Two Milwaukee women were charged Saturday with child neglect and other counts in the death of a 7-year-old boy who was starved, burned with cigarettes, beaten and whipped with cords.
Court records show Trevion Winningham died Tuesday, weighing just 44 pounds and with open cuts, bruises and other injuries.
Etter Hughes, 44, and Mary Martinez, 47, each face multiple counts, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The women were jailed Saturday and court records don't list an attorney for either woman to comment on their behalf.
The criminal complaint says Hughes was in Arkansas with her family and moving to Milwaukee. She agreed to take Trevion and his brother from their mother, Hughes' cousin, in August. They eventually moved into Martinez's rat-infested apartment in Milwaukee, where the boys were subjected to torture and starvation.
Trevion's 9-year-old brother, who is hospitalized with injuries, and Hughes' son told police that Martinez repeatedly punched, kicked and whipped the boys.
Hughes and Martinez had met in prison.
Martinez was serving time for a burglary conviction. Hughes was convicted in the 2003 death of a 1-year-old who was tortured in her home and died, and sentenced to 18 months in prison and four years of supervision.
