Parents Allegedly Starve 2-Year-Old To Death Until She Was 'Bones And Skin'; Arrested

Two Florida parents and an uncle were arrested after a two-year-old girl was found dead from long-term starvation.

Regis Johnson, 57, and Arhonda Tillman, 35, were booked at the Polk County jail Wednesday. The uncle, Frank Robinson, 64, was also arrested for living in the same house and being aware of the abuse but not reporting it. All three face one count of negligent child abuse causing great harm.

Johnson had called 911 Tuesday saying his child was not breathing, according to CBS affiliate News 6 WKMG. Officers arrived at Johnson’s Davenport home to find the toddler dead in an inflatable pool used as a makeshift playpen, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference Thursday.

"If you can imagine looking at such a heartbreaking sight, it was just bones and skin," Judd said at the news conference, WESH 2 News reported. "There aren't adequate words to express my frustration.”

Judd said the young victim, who “should have weighed 32 pounds,” was born on July 25, 2019.

“This baby girl was born at six pounds and 10 ounces," the sheriff said. "She weighed nine pounds when she died.”

The sheriff also said the baby girl went to the doctor for the last time on January 2, 2020, and had only gained one ounce from then until her death.

"When this baby died, she couldn't stand, she couldn't talk, she could walk," Judd added.

Investigators found food in the house and said the father and mother were both well-nourished, weighing 213-pounds and 144-pounds respectively.

“Regis Johnson told us the baby ate a sandwich yesterday, and some chicken nuggets,” Judd said, according to the New York Post. “Well, that’s just a bald-faced lie. That child had zero food in her stomach.”

The official cause of the child’s death is still unknown. However, the child had no food in her stomach, and her intestines had only slight traces of fecal matter. These are signs of long-term starvation, Judd said.

“The baby didn't thrive because they wouldn't take her to the doctor, they wouldn't feed her,” Judd said, according to 10 Tampa Bay.

Tillman claimed she is currently four months pregnant, but Judd said he won’t give her a chance to starve another child and would ensure the baby is placed with a “loving family.”

As the investigation into the toddler’s death continues, Judd said the parents could face murder charges.

He also urged the public not to turn a blind eye to signs of abuse, adding, “No matter who you are, across the state or nation, if you see a child that's being neglected or abused, you have not only an ethical and moral obligation but a legal obligation in Florida to report.”