Woman convicted of malnutrition, death of 4-year-old daughter fed bottled Mountain Dew – Boston 25 News

According to Clermont County prosecutors, Banks' daughter died on Jan. 24, 2022, because she was denied adequate nutrition and medical care, according to the TV station. That included bottle-feeding the child Mountain Dew mixed with formula until the girl's teeth rotted away, prosecutors said.

Banks and the child's father, Christopher Hoeb, 53, were indicted in 2023 on charges of murder, manslaughter and child endangerment. Hoeb, also charged in the child's death, will be sentenced June 11.

“This is one of the most tragic cases I have ever encountered,” said Clermont County Deputy Prosecutor Clay Tharp.

Karmity Hoeb died at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center on Jan. 25, 2022, according to the coroner's office.

Banks was sentenced after the Clermont County coroner determined her daughter's death was due to diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening illness, WCPO-TV reported. Prosecutors said the girl suffered from diabetes “which went undiagnosed and untreated for an extended period of time.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, diabetic ketoacidosis develops when the body is unable to produce enough insulin.

“Diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA, is an extreme complication of untreated diabetes,” Chris Peltier, president of the Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told WCPO.

Peltier said this illness is not necessarily rare in children, but added that if the illness is left untreated, a person can slip into a coma and even die.

“Eventually the body will just shut down,” Peltier told the TV station.

According to the original indictment, reported by the Clermont Sun, Banks and Hoeb found the child unconscious on January 21, 2022. They called 911 and the girl was taken to an area hospital, where she was resuscitated. Doctors determined the girl was brain dead and was taken off life support. She was taken off life support on January 24 and died the next day.

Prosecutors also alleged that Banks and Hoeb bottle-fed their daughter with formula mixed with Mountain Dew, WCPO reported. When the girl died, she had almost no teeth left in her mouth because they had rotted and fallen out, according to the television station.

Banks' oldest son, Jerry Banks, spoke to WXIX about his younger brother's medical condition, which occurred in 2011.

“One day he became lethargic and wouldn't move. The only thing he responded to was sugar and for 36 hours she (Tamara Banks) passed out in the back room,” Jerry Banks said on the television station in March. 19 interview. “I had to wake her up and force her to take him to the hospital and that’s when he turned out to be in DKA; The same thing that happened to (Kamity). Doctors detected it in time to save him.

Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Victor Haddad said Banks should have known about the dangers of her daughter's diabetes because she had an older son who suffered from the same illness and fell into a coma at the time. age 4 years old.

“It's hard to be a good parent but at least mediocre parenting is expected, everyone should expect that,” Haddad said during Friday's hearing. “Not knowing what to do is no excuse.”