Dad and mom Charged with ‘Emaciated’ Boy’s Loss of life After ‘Taunting’ Movies, Google Searches Revealed

Qwentosha Massaquoi, 46, and Louis Massaquoi, 47, of Lehigh Acres, Florida have been arrested final week and charged with aggravated manslaughter and aggravated little one abuse following the dying of their son.

The arrest comes after months of investigation from the Lee County Sheriff’s Workplace, who’ve name the kid’s dying “tragic and merciless.”

“This poor little one endured extended struggling earlier than his mother and father in the end let him die,” the sheriff mentioned in a press release. “We’re proud to work alongside the State Lawyer’s Workplace in bringing these accountable to justice, and we’ll proceed to help their efforts to safe a prolonged conviction.”

Deputies have been dispatched to the Massaquoi dwelling on January 27, 2025, after Louis known as 911 and mentioned “his son was weak and presumably handed away,” this in accordance with a possible trigger affidavit obtained by Regulation&Crime. Lifesaving measures have been unsuccessful and he was pronounced useless.

In keeping with his post-mortem, the boy — who was “solely sporting a diaper” when he died and homeschooled alongside his 9-year-old brother — “introduced with apparent indicators of malnourishment and was emaciated with all bones seen.” He was additionally “severely dehydrated, malnourished, and very emaciated.”

The mother and father advised deputies “the boy had grow to be unwell however that they selected to not search medical remedy,” mentioned the Sheriff. Per the possible trigger docs, they mentioned “medical remedy was towards their spiritual beliefs,” although he had been experiencing signs together with vomiting and a tough stomach. The mom additionally allegedly advised authorities they could not get him to eat within the days main as much as his dying, after a dinner of spaghetti on January 23.

Per Fort Myers Information-Press, the mother and father prayed over the boy, till they realized he wasn’t respiratory and known as 911.

When requested in regards to the kid’s weight, Qwentosha allegedly claimed she first observed he was getting skinnier in October, however chalked that and his fatigue to “going via puberty.” She allegedly mentioned they thought he would “ultimately fill again out weight-wise” following what they thought was “a progress spurt.”

After executing a search warrant on the mother and father’ cell telephones, authorities discovered what the sheriff known as “quite a few regarding web searches associated to medical signs, therapies, and little one dying” — in addition to movies of the mother and father “taunting” the boy.

Per the affidavit, the movies confirmed the daddy “mocking, taunting, and denying the decedent fundamental nourishment, resembling water, when he requested for it.” He additionally allegedly was seen “poking on the decedent with [a] stick and making enjoyable of him for sporting diaper.”

“Movies have been discovered of Louis Sr. taunting and making enjoyable of the decedent by saying, ‘Oh, [you’re] thirsty, oh, you need water, you all the time need water,'” reads the affidavit, citing “one other the place Louis Sr. takes [a] bottle of water from the decedent and says he cannot have it and you’ll hear the decedent asking for the water. Louis Sr. can be seen mocking the decedent about all the time being thirsty.”

Each mother and father have been allegedly current when the movies have been recorded, which authorities imagine exhibits “that each mother and father have been maliciously torturing, punishing, and mistreating the decedent.”

The movies additionally allegedly confirmed that the boy “gave the impression to be in good well being” till round October 2024. After that, authorities mentioned he “started to look unhealthy because of weight reduction and lack of shade in his face.”

One telephone additionally got here up with web searches for “what to do when a baby dies” and “what to do when an individual dies in Florida,” about 10 minutes earlier than the mother and father known as 911. On the opposite telephone, in the meantime, they discovered searches for “unexplained weight reduction,” “distended stomach,” “extreme thirst” and “urinary incontinence.”

As for the mother and father saying “medical remedy was towards their spiritual beliefs,” investigators additionally discovered the mom had oral surgical procedure and a blood transfusion this 12 months.

The 2 are nonetheless in custody at Lee County Jail.

In case you are experiencing or witness little one abuse, name the Childhelp Nationwide Baby Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Baby or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. If you happen to imagine a baby is in speedy hazard, name 911.