Jacksonville police say a quiet Mixon Town block is reeling after a hospital visit exposed what investigators describe as a stark case of child neglect. A nurse rushed one girl for emergency care when she arrived at the hospital so thin that staff immediately called authorities, triggering an investigation that ended with five children taken from a home and their caregivers in handcuffs.
According to investigators, the children were severely underweight, and several had cuts or bruises. The adults now face criminal neglect accusations while child-welfare officials untangle where the children will live next. Neighbors say the arrests have shaken the area and drawn fresh attention to what is happening behind closed doors on their street.
Police identified the adults as 37-year-old Anthony Jones and 33-year-old Erica Bryant. Both were arrested Saturday on child-neglect charges and are each being held on $125,000 bond. Authorities say a nurse contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families after a child was brought to the emergency room, and officers who went to the couple’s Mixon Town residence found four more extremely thin children inside. All five were taken to Wolfson Children’s Hospital for evaluation…