BATON ROUGE, LA– A Louisiana mother is facing charges of first-degree murder after police say she starved her 3-year-old son to death while the child’s father was away for work. The case has deeply disturbed the Baton Rouge community and reignited questions about unnoticed child neglect in vulnerable households.
The Baton Rouge Police Department responded to a 911 call on July 25 after receiving reports of an unresponsive toddler at a home in the 1100 block of N Ardenwood Drive.
According to police reports, the mother, Antionette Butler, initially claimed the boy had choked on food. But paramedics and medical examiners quickly found evidence inconsistent with that explanation…