PHILADELPHIA – Criminal charges could come soon in the starvation death of a 3-year-old Philadelphia girl who died weighing just 11 pounds.
Police say both parents are in custody after Nathalyz (NAT'-uh-leez) Rivera was found unresponsive Monday at the family's squalid home. They could be charged as early as Tuesday.
Nathalyz's twin and three other siblings are in protective custody.
The girl's death has been ruled a homicide. Capt. James Clark says she had not been seen by a doctor in more than a year, despite what he called "severe" disabilities.
Authorities do not believe she was in school or getting any special services.
The case echoes the 2006 starvation death of another disabled Philadelphia girl, Danieal Kelly. Her mother is in prison for third-degree murder, while her father was convicted of felony neglect.
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