Insets from left: Destiny Dionne and Joshua Latimer (Oconee County Jail) and Isaiah Dionne (Brown Funerals). Background: Destiny Dionne, in OCDC shirt, during a bond hearing (WHNS).
Investigators unveiled graphic details about the horrific abuse that led to the death of a 4-year-old South Carolina boy at the hands of his mother and her husband, who was a police officer, according to cops.
Joshua Emanuel Lamar Latimer, 30, and Destiny Shay Dionne, 24, stand accused of homicide by child abuse and unlawful conduct toward a child in the death of Isaiah Dionne, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said.
Deputies with the Oconee County Sheriff”s Office responded to a home on Forest Acres Circle in Walhalla, which is roughly 45 miles west of Greenville, in September. Cops allegedly found the boy dead inside the home. The boy appeared to be underweight and malnourished, weighing just 21 pounds, police say.
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Isaiah’s ribs were “very visible” and his eyes were “sunken into his head,” an arrest warrant states.
Both suspects are in the Oconee County Jail without bond. Latimer was a trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol. He was let go after his arrest.
Local Fox affiliate WHNS reported from Dionne’s bond hearing Thursday in which prosecutors laid out additional allegations. Tenth Circuit Solicitor Micah Black revealed some of the observations of first responders.
“He was basically skin and bones, for a lack of a better word,” Black reportedly said. “One of the EMS personnel basically described it as … similar to something you’d see on TV, to starving children in Africa.”
The boy was also forced to sleep on a blanket instead of a bed and the curtains to his room were stapled shut, per cops. Investigators believe the suspects allegedly locked Isaiah in the closet and forced him to drink water from the toilet.
WHNS reports that the boy lived with his maternal grandmother for the first two years of his life, but moved in with his mother and Latimer when the couple started dating. After Isaiah moved in with them, he was allegedly treated differently than his younger sibling who appeared to be fine. He didn’t see a doctor over a span of two years, cops say.
Neighbors told cops when they took food to the family, they would allegedly witness Isaiah eat adult-sized meals which they found odd.
The judge denied bond and ordered Dionne to remain in jail. If convicted, the suspects will face between 20 years and life behind bars.
Isaiah’s obituary called him “the most beautiful baby boy.”
“As Isaiah grew, so did his personality. Knowing him was such an amazing experience; he was always happy. Isaiah’s smile could light up a room, and his laugh would warm your heart,” the obituary said.
