A Crystal City couple has been charged for allegedly allowing their 7-week old son to starve to death in February.
Both Jessica Alice Cook and Phillip Thomas-Leon Compton were charged Dec. 14 with abuse and neglect of a child resulting in the death of a child.
Cook, 33, was in the Jefferson County Jail on Tuesday (Dec. 18). A $50,000 cash-only bond with conditions had been recommended, but the bond will be determined at her arraignment hearing, which had not been scheduled as of Tuesday, according to court records.
Compton, 31, was still at large on Tuesday.
“We are hoping he turns himself in because there is a warrant for his arrest,” Crystal City Police Chief Chad Helms said.
The couple’s baby, Kanaan Leon Compton, died Feb. 10.
“An autopsy performed on (the child) concluded the immediate cause of death was malnutrition and probable dehydration, and the manner of death was homicide,” the probable-cause statement said.
Both parents are accused of failing to provide the proper nutrition and medical care for the baby, which resulted in his death, the report said.
At approximately 8 a.m. on the day the baby died, police responded to Phillip Compton’s home in the 400 block of Ninth Avenue in Crystal City after receiving a call that an infant was having trouble breathing.
When police arrived, Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District personnel were already performing CPR on the baby and the child was transported to Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City with cardiac arrest. The baby, who weighed 5 pounds at the time, was pronounced dead at 8:51 a.m., according to the report.
According the probable-cause statement, the baby weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces, when he was born on Dec. 24, 2017; 6 pounds, 9 ounces, when he was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 27; and 6 pounds, .05 ounces, on Jan. 8, the last time the child was seen by a doctor.
Compton told police “he thought the child was fine” and was just thin because he and the child’s mother were thin. However, Compton added that his mother had seen a photo of the baby online and called him and told him to take the baby to the doctor. But, “Compton never took the initiative to contact the doctor himself,” the report said.
“(He) just stated that he did not know the severity of the child’s weight loss,” according to investigators.
The couple also did not take the baby to several appointments for well checks with the doctor, the report said.
Compton cancelled one appointment, and Cook failed to show up for the rescheduled appointment and then cancelled a third appointment, according to the report.
Compton told police an appointment with the pediatrician was scheduled in February, but according to the doctor’s office, the couple had not contacted the office after the child’s last appointment on Jan. 8, the report said.
Cook told police the baby had been lethargic and “would sleep a lot,” according to the report.
In addition, Cook said the baby would only eat 1 to 2 ounces of formula every four to six hours. She also said “she would take the bottle out of the baby’s mouth and only continued feeding if he cried,” the report said.
When the child began to make choking noises on the morning of Feb. 10, neither parent responded immediately to the child, according to the report.
Compton told police he called to Cook several times to check on the baby but did not get out of bed to check on the child himself. Then, when Cook went to Compton afraid about the baby’s condition, he allegedly went to the bathroom before checking on the child, the report said.
The charge against both Cook and Compton is a class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison.