A Southern California mother who allegedly starved and abused her twin 3-year-old sons leaving them severely malnourished, bruised and one with a fractured jaw has been arrested, police said Wednesday.
Courtney Lynn Stewart, 24, of Murietta, California, was arrested and charged on suspicion of willful harm or injury to a child and corporal punishment or injury to a child, according to Murrieta Police Department officials.
The investigation began when officials at the the Rancho Springs Hospital contacted the Murietta Police Department when one of the twins was admitted earlier in November weighing less than 15 pounds and with suspicious bruises on his body.
The child was immediately transported to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, where he remains in critical condition.
Investigators visitied Stewarts home and found the little boy’s twin brother, who was also severely malnourished and had a fractured jaw. He was also hospitilized, and now under the care of Riverside County Child Protective Services. It is unclear if he remains hospitalized.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Jeremy Durant with the Murrieta Police Department at 951-461-6354.
