Deonte Atwell was destined for a short and challenging life, even if he had received the best medical care available to him. He did not get that care, and his death last Christmas at the age of 7 years and two days was beyond tragic, officials said Wednesday. It was criminal.
“It’s sad to say Deonte had suffered all the way through his death,” Fort Lauderdale homicide detective Jacqueline Sanchez said. “It was very disturbing, I can tell you … I lost sleep more than once.”
By the time emergency workers were called to Deonte’s home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he had wasted away to just 7 pounds. Prosecutors said it should have been clear to anyone who saw him that he was not being fed or given proper medical treatment.
Now five people are facing criminal charges in connection with Deonte’s death, including his mother, brother, and grandfather. A grand jury also indicted two health care workers who, according to prosecutors, not only failed to notice Deonte was dying but also billed Medicaid somewhere between $10,000 and $50,000 for treatments he clearly did not receive.
More from CafeMom: Mom Who Cracked Her Infant's Back Before She Died Says She 'Did Not Mean To Hurt Her'
Deonte had thoracic spina bifida and hydrocephalus, a medical condition that required consistent in-home care.
Sanchez said his conditions left him immobile from the waist down and required him to wear a tracheostomy tube and go to physical therapy.
The state provided Deonte’s family with all the medical equipment and resources they needed to care for his conditions. With proper care, he could have lived into his 20s or 30s. He was nonverbal, Sanchez said, though he communicated using facial expressions. He was mostly bedridden and needed a wheelchair for mobility. But detectives also saw videos of him sitting up and playing on a laptop and “just being a normal kid,” Sanchez said.
Whatever family members saw of Deonte’s suffering didn’t stop their horror when they realized something was very wrong that December day and waited desperately for several minutes for paramedics to respond, according to a 10-minute 911 call released by Fort Lauderdale Police.
“Hello, hello, can you send paramedics?” a man who identified himself as Deonte’s uncle frantically told the operator. He is not among those indicted.
“My nephew, he’s on a breathalyzer, he’s not responding too well right now,” he continued. “We need an ambulance. I don’t have time to do too much explaining with you, just you to hurry up and send one right now,” he said.
“Sir, I’ve already put the call in — ” the operator began to say.
“I understand this ma’am, I go through this process. Can you please just send a truck, please ma’am, I’m begging you.”
The operator informed him she had already entered the call for service but had to ask more questions.
“I just got here, I just got here,” he said.
A woman then got on the line.
“Ma’am, is he completely alert?” the operator asked.
“Ma’am, I don’t know,” the woman said while crying.
A man could then be heard yelling in the background.
The woman yelled something in response. She got back on the phone and the operator gave her instructions. Then the line went silent for several minutes except for her sobs and the sound of a machine beeping.
Another few minutes passed and the man returned and asked where the paramedics were.
“They’re almost there,” the operator said.
About 10 minutes into the call, someone arrived.
“That’s not a police officer, right?” the man asked the operator.
“It’s just the first person that can assist,” she replied.
The man could then be heard talking to the first responder, asking him if he could call paramedics and explaining that his nephew is on a ventilator.
“No fight happened?” the officer asked.
“No,” he said. “We called the ambulance for him.”
Then the audio cuts out.
Most children with spina bifida make it to adulthood.
About 90% of children born with the condition live to adulthood, and 75% play some form of sports, according to the national Spina Bifida Association.
Laurita Tellado, 37, founder and president of the Orlando-based Laurita Spina Bifida Project, said people who are born with the condition, such as herself, can live fulfilling lives. “This case is absolutely gut-wrenching to me and my family, as we have remotely supported spina bifida and hydrocephalus communities in Africa and Latin America in very poor villages,” she said. “Yet this child fell through so many cracks in a system that is specifically built to support children like him. That is simply inexcusable.”
It appeared that the company responsible for providing care at Deonte’s home, Samaritin Home Health Care, had not visited for at least three months leading up to Christmas, the day he died.
Deonte was found with “gaping holes” from bedsores and with bones sticking out. An emergency room doctor told detectives it appeared he had been dead for quite some time.
“This did not happen over a short period of time,” Assistant State Attorney Melissa Kelly said.
Several of Deonte's relatives have been charged in connection with his death.
His mother, Michelle Doe, 37, spoke to detectives after her arrest and told them she had been feeding him, even though he weighed only 7 pounds, Sanchez said. She is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and neglect of two older sons, ages 9 and 16.
Deonte’s brother, Tyreck Irvin, 21, is also charged with murder and aggravated manslaughter, and their grandfather, James Graham, 70, is charged with aggravated manslaughter, neglect, and failure to report neglect.
Two others were indicted in the case.
Mirlande Moltimer, 47, owner of Samaritin Home Health Care, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, felony third-degree murder, and Medicaid fraud. The last charge is for billing Medicaid for services that were not received.
Cassandre Lassegue, 33, a registered nurse who was supposed to provide in-home care for months before Deonte died, was charged with first-degree murder, felony third-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, and Medicaid fraud.
“Honestly, just do your job,” Sanchez, the homicide detective, said during a news conference Wednesday. “You’re a medical provider, you’re supposed to be caring for these children, and that’s what you’re paid for.”
Defense lawyers characterized Deonte’s death as a tragedy during a brief initial court appearance Wednesday morning.
Doe is expected to make her first court appearance Thursday morning. The others appeared Wednesday in front of Broward County Judge Michele McCaul Ricca.
—Rafael Olmeda and Shira Moolten, South Florida Sun Sentinel (TNS)
©2024 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit at sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child), or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
