Inset: Angela Lowe (Lancaster County Department of Corrections). Background: Children”s Nebraska hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, where the child was brought after authorities found him (Google Maps).Â
A woman in Nebraska allegedly starved a 12-year-old boy in her care until he was roughly half the weight of a typical boy his age, authorities say.
Angela Lowe, 47, has been charged with child abuse causing serious bodily injury, false imprisonment, and first-degree assault.
The defendant is being held by the Lancaster County Department of Corrections on a $750,000 bond.
Lowe brought a 12-year-old boy to an emergency room on Jan. 12, law enforcement say. She was the child’s guardian and had been since he was six years old, local CBS affiliate KOLN reported, citing court records.
After the child was admitted at the medical facility, a nurse is said to have contacted police, suspecting child neglect. The boy was reportedly severely malnourished and too weak to lift himself or speak, according to the Lincoln Police Department.
Officers responded, finding that the boy had a core body temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit — far below the standard 97 degrees — and weighed just 47 pounds, according to the TV station. A typical 12-year-old boy weighs about 90 pounds, the TV station added.
The child was airlifted to Children’s Nebraska pediatric hospital in Omaha, where doctors diagnosed him with septic shock and pneumonia. Investigators believe Lowe not only neglected the boy but starved and tortured him for months.
Doctors did not expect the child to survive more than a few days, according to KOLN. As of Thursday, however, the child was still in critical but stable condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Lowe’s exact relationship with the child is unclear. She is scheduled to return to court on March 4.
