Prosecutors will not be seeking the death penalty against a mother, son and caregiver accused of deliberately torturing a 7-year-old boy by starving him until he died weighing just 7 pounds last Christmas.
Michelle Doe, 37, her son Tyreck Irvin, 21, and registered nurse Cassandre Lassegue, 33, are each charged with first degree murder in the death of Deonte Atwell, who was Doe’s son and Irvin’s brother. Deonte lived with thoracic spina bifida and hydrocephalus , which left him non-verbal and in need of around-the clock medical care.
What he got instead was criminal neglect, wasting away while 264 unopened bottles of feeding formula sat in his family’s kitchen, according to court records. Deonte’s death was slow and filled with suffering, the records indicate, and it was also avoidable. People charged with similar crimes in other states have been sentenced to death.
But prosecutor Melissa Kelly announced Thursday that it would not be happening in this case.
Doe, Irvin and Lassegue face maximum sentences of life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. Two others are also facing charges: James Graham, 70, Doe’s father, is charged with aggravated manslaughter, neglect, and failure to report neglect, while Mirlande Moltimer, 47, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, felony third-degree murder, and Medicaid fraud.