Pregnant Woman Arrested After Starving Her Child to Death

Pregnant Woman Arrested After Starving Her Child to Death

A pregnant Tennessee mom was charged with murder on Wednesday over the starvation and dehydration death of her baby son.

Aspiring model Brittany Marie Wiest, 21, who is 24 weeks pregnant, has been charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect and felony murder.

The little boy, Anakin Leroy-Michael Wiest, was 59-days-old and weighed less than five pounds when was found dead.

Police said he weighed almost six pounds when he was born, reports WKRN.

Child abuse: Brittany Marie Wiest, 21, woke up last year and her baby son wasn't moving so she called 911. The cause of death was starvation and dehyrdration, and Wiest was charged with his homicide this week

Child abuse: Brittany Marie Wiest, 21, woke up last year and her baby son wasn’t moving so she called 911. The cause of death was starvation and dehyrdration, and Wiest was charged with his homicide this week

Killed: Anakin Leroy-Michael Wiest, was 59-days-old and weighed less than five pounds when was found dead. He is seen here with his older sister, who is now in state custody 

Killed: Anakin Leroy-Michael Wiest, was 59-days-old and weighed less than five pounds when was found dead. He is seen here with his older sister, who is now in state custody

Aspiring model: Brittany Wiest is currently 24 weeks pregnant with another child, her third

Aspiring model: Brittany Wiest is currently 24 weeks pregnant with another child, her third

Murder: has been charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect and felony murder

Murder: has been charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect and felony murder

Police and paramedics responded to a 911 call from Wiest and her boyfriend – who is not the boy’s father – regarding an unresponsive infant on April 8 last year.

They arrived at the apartment the couple share in the 900 block of Needham Drive in Smyrna.

The pair said they had woken up to find the baby not moving.

‘She honestly had no clue what had occurred, why the baby had passed away,’ Detective Rick Hall told WKRN.

‘She just woke up, found the child in the condition it was in and called us.’

The cause of death was determined as starvation and dehydration.

Detectives classified the death as a homicide.

However they spent almost a year investigating before charging Wiest this week.

Scene: Wiest lived with her boyfriend - not the victim's father - at the Village Crest apartments in Smyrna 

Held: Wiest, who was arrested Wednesday, had her bond set at $100,000

Neglect: The 21-year-old's son, Anakin, was 59-days-old and weighed less than five pounds

Neglect: The 21-year-old’s son, Anakin, was 59-days-old and weighed less than five pounds

Wiest has had previous run-ins with the Department of Children’s Services for neglect concerning her two-year-old daughter, who is now in state custody.

Her daughter and Anakin were to different fathers, as is the child she is expecting.

 

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