When an emaciated boy was found wandering down a Griffin street by neighbors Friday, his first question to them was how he could get to the grocery store to buy some food. Next, authorities said he asked not to be sent home to his parents.
Griffin police were called to the neighbors’ home about a lost child, but what they found was much worse, Spalding County District Attorney Marie Broder said at a news conference Tuesday.
The 10-year-old son of Tyler and Krista Schindley weighed just 36 pounds, Broder said. For reference, Broder said her 9-year-old daughter weighs more than twice that.
The boy was immediately taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with malnutrition and a low heart rate, officials said. He was transferred to a new facility and was still in the hospital four days later receiving treatment for those conditions.
“(S)imply put, the child was being starved to death,” Broder said as she explained how she planned to prosecute the case.
The Schindleys were both arrested Friday on multiple counts, including criminal intent to commit murder, first-, second- and third-degree child cruelty, battery and false imprisonment. According to investigators, Tyler Schindley voluntarily went to the Griffin Police Department, where he was arrested after an interview. Krista Schindley was arrested at their home after her own interview.
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
Arrest warrants obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution accuse the Schindleys of attempting to kill their 10-year-old son by starvation. The couple are also accused of leaving the boy locked inside his bedroom for extended periods of time on multiple occasions without access to food, lights, toilet paper, clothing or interaction with other people.
According to the warrants, the Schindleys are charged with neglecting a serious dental injury and a disfiguration by not seeking proper medical care for him. They are also accused of hitting the boy multiple times hard enough to cause visible injury.
Officials could not share much information due to the nature of child abuse investigations and the fact that the case is in its earliest phases. They have not established a timeline for how long the boy may have been abused, and they do not know how he escaped the home.
“As a mother, I can’t comprehend it,” Broder said. “As a human being, it breaks your heart.”
Officials did not share photos of the boy’s injuries, but Broder said “anyone with a human heart that looks at them should be shaken to their core. I certainly was.”
Officials said the boy was one of five siblings, but that he was not the oldest or youngest. The other children are in the custody of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, Broder said. She could not share any information about their conditions, and DFCS representatives have not responded to questions about the case.
Officials said it did not appear food had been withheld from the other children in the household, and they had not determined why the 10-year-old boy was the only one starving.
Broder also described the state of the Schindleys’ home as “OK,” but said further details would be released later about the conditions in which the 10-year-old was confined. The boy and his siblings were all home-schooled, Broder said.
The other children are in line to be interviewed, Broder said, and a forensic interview will be conducted with the 10-year-old upon his release from the hospital.
Tyler and Krista Schindley were booked into the Spalding jail and remain there without bond after their first appearance hearings Monday.
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