3-Year-Old Dies From 17-Pound Cancerous Tumor, Parents Charged With Manslaughter

Parents of a toddler who died of a 17-pound cancerous tumor were charged with murder.

Henry Clarence Lilly III, 49, and Bonnie Beth Mills-Lilly, 42, both of Lawton, Oklahoma, were each charged with first-degree manslaughter Thursday in Comanche County District Court after their three-year-old daughter’s death on Jan. 3. The felony charge carries a maximum punishment of up to four years in prison.

The Comanche County sheriff's deputies found the victim unconscious but alive after they responded to the suspects’ home near Lake Lawtonka on Oklahoma State Highway 58. The toddler was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she died.

Autopsy report revealed that the unnamed victim had a 17-pound tumor and was suffering from cancer. It was not clear as to what type of cancer the victim was suffering from or for what duration she had been living with it.

Sheriff Kenny Stradley revealed that the child was living with her parents and six other children in a camper home. The child’s parents were accused of not providing the medical care that the child needed, that led to her death.

According to Mail Online, court records showed that the defendants were arraigned with bonds of $60,000 each, which they posted on Thursday. Furthermore, Lilly III and Mills-Lilly were ordered by the court to wear a GPS monitor at all times.

A preliminary announcement for the couple is scheduled on Feb. 28, followed by a preliminary hearing conference on March 18. Both the defendants will be represented by a single attorney.

The news comes a month after a Missouri couple, Phillip Thomas Leon Compton, 31, and Jessica Alice Cook, 33, faced charges of abuse or neglect of a child as their six-week-old baby boy died of starvation in February 2018, weighing just five pounds at the time of his death.

"We thought the child was fine, due to me and Ms. Cook both being very skinny," Compton told investigators, adding that he "thought his wife was feeding him." Compton’s attorney also echoed similar sentiments while talking to reporters about his client.

“He worked full time and was only assuming his wife was feeding his child,” attorney Lenny Kagan said. “He is a first-time parent and a good guy. His life has been turned upside down. It’s a 100 percent tragic accident. Phillip is devastated. The family is devastated.”

Investigators discovered that the boy, who was born on Dec. 24, 2017, lost more than a pound in the final month of his life and had not had a bowel movement in more than five days, leading up to his death.