Man charged with murder, accused of depriving 3 kids of food, water in Atlanta

Warrants say he kidnapped his children in July from a home in Maryland
Rodney Mcweay is facing several charges, including murder, after one of his three children died, warrants show.

Credit: Henri Hollis

Credit: Henri Hollis

Rodney Mcweay is facing several charges, including murder, after one of his three children died, warrants show.

A man was arrested Thursday in the death of his 4-year-old daughter, who was prevented access to food and water, and the abuse of his two other children in Atlanta, arrest warrants show.

Rodney Mcweay is facing charges of murder and three counts each of cruelty to children and false imprisonment in the Dec. 11 incident. He also faces three counts of kidnapping in a July incident.

The most recent investigation into Mcweay began after officers said they responded to Renfrew Court, a neighborhood of single-family homes near Adamsville, after getting reports of an unresponsive child. Officers also responded to Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital, where a 4-year-old found in the home had been taken and pronounced dead, an arrest warrant states.

She was identified by officials as Treasure Mcweay.

According to the warrants, Treasure Mcweay “was extremely underweight, and her face appeared to be sunken in around the eyes and cheekbones.” A Dec. 13 autopsy revealed that the child weighed only 24 pounds and had just 5 milliliters of liquid in her stomach, the warrant adds. Officials considered her to be “extremely malnourished and dehydrated.”

Two other children, ages 4 and 3, were found to have been living with Rodney Mcweay, and the warrant accuses him of not providing “sustenance in the form of food or water for any of his three children.”

Those children were hospitalized for extreme malnourishment and severe dehydration, the warrant details. Doctors at Hughes Spalding also confirmed with police that Mcweay failed to provide one of his kids’ prescribed seizure medication, officials said.

Police interviewed Mcweay and uncovered that he never allowed the children to go outside and did not permit them to leave their rooms without his permission, the warrant said. He also told police that if the kids needed something, he would take it to them.

During a search warrant of Mcweay’s home, police said they found only expired eggs and expired milk. The kids’ rooms were also searched and no clothing was discovered, the warrant states. Several cameras, including some facing the children’s beds, were found throughout the house, officials said.

Mcweay did not have custody of his children, authorities said.

On July 6, he is accused of kidnapping all three kids from a residence in Aberdeen, Maryland, arrest warrants reveal. The document states that the mother was the sole legal guardian and Rodney Mcweay prevented family members, the kids’ mother and Georgia Division of Family and Children Services employees from speaking to the children.

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