Two men and a woman were arrested for allegedly neglecting two-year-old twin boys in Jackson County, West Virginia.
According to the county sheriff, the condition of the twins came to light after one of the twins was found unresponsive. The child was first taken to a local hospital and then transported to a hospital in Charleston. He was then flown to a third hospital. According to the sheriff, "The two-year-old boy was in complete renal failure and was in a very, very dire situation." The sheriff said medical staff investigated and found the boy in a state of "extreme" malnutrition and dehydration.
When deputies began their own investigation, they found that "the twins had allegedly been locked in a room in an apartment for 'as many as six weeks at a time.'"
Their parents have been accused of self-medicating the twins for long periods of time in order to get them to sleep. The mother allegedly lived in the basement of the apartment of the building with her boyfriend while the father lived upstairs. The three adults allegedly used a padlock-type lock to keep the twins in their bedroom for days at a time with nothing but a diaper on. During these times, the sheriff also said it appeared that the twins had only been fed pieces of ground beef and cereal under the door.
The neglect caused one of the twins to lose consciousness and to be "on death's door." The boy is now in stable condition, and has been removed from the home.
The boy's twin and a female child have also been removed from the home. All three adults were arraigned on charges related to the incident. Jessica Patterson "3 arrested for allegedly feeding twins only ground beef, cereal under locked door" https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/jackson-county-wv/3-charged-in-jackson-county-west-virginia-child-neglect-case/ (May 09, 2023).