Jerald Hicks Weighs 185, Starves His Children
January 30, 2008 by impqueen
Nashville, TN - Jerald Hicks, 24, has earned the distinction of being on the Dreamin’ Demon laundry list of babykillers this week. He didn’t toss his kids out a car window or beat them to death, though, because Jerald Hicks is creative and likes death to take longer. Seventeen month old Jerald Hicks Jr. was taken to a hospital by his father on Thursday evening, but the baby was dead on arrival with a body temperature so low that it could not be registered. Baby Jerald weighed only ten pounds.
Hicks’ two year old daughter LaTarvia accompanied him to the emergency room. She was taken to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, where she was found to be suffering from severe malnutrition. Turns out that Daddy Hicks had food stamps, but told police he hadn’t fed his children “in days”. Days? Takes longer than days to get a toddler down to ten pounds. This smacks of long-term starvation to me.
Baby Jerald died of starvation and hypothermia according to the preliminary autopsy report. Authorities went to the apartment where Hicks was living alone with his children and found that there was no heat and no electricity. The apartment had no crib, no baby furniture, and no food at all. “There were some blankets on the bedding, but they were clearly insufficient for freezing temperatures,” said police. The mother, who has not been charged, told police that she last saw the children on January 17. She didn’t show up for baby Jerald’s burial on Tuesday.
Hicks appeared to be dealing with single parenthood fairly well after his wife, Chisa Hughes, left him and moved to California in early 2007, said his apartment manager. The manager was working with Hicks on trying to get rent caught up, and he would take the babies with him to look for work. He got food stamps and other benefits to help with his expenses. Another apartment complex employee even set Hicks up with a job interview.
But things seemed to fall apart in recent months. Hicks stopped looking for work, stopped paying bills, stopped buying food, stopped letting his extended family come take the babies for a weekend. The apartment manager was in the process of evicting him. He didn’t show up for his job interview. When the family realized the electricity was off last month, Hicks’ elderly grandmother offered to pay the bill, but Hicks never got it to her.
I’d love to call this an overwhelmed caring single dad who just lost it, but I can’t. It takes too long to starve babies to death. There are too many resources in the Nashville area for the poor. The man had food stamps, and family members were trying to help. And then there’s this: Jerald Hicks, Sr. is 5′8″ and weighs 185 pounds “with no signs of malnutrition”, according to police.
LaTarvia Hicksl is now in the custody of the Department of Children’s Services. Hicks is being held on charges of criminal homicide and aggravated child neglect. I really hope they forget to feed him for awhile in jail.
9:18 am on January 30th, 2008
Oh, PS – Thanks to Kebaj for the heads-up on this story!
9:40 am on January 30th, 2008
OMG twit piece of shit. (curious is she pregnant again) nimcompoop Fix them !!!
17 months 10 lbs is rediculous – when he stopped allowing family members to take them on weekends they should of reported his ass when his grandma heard there was no heat she should of reported that too if it was friggit temps – my guess he was selling the food stamps half price for crack or herioin
9:51 am on January 30th, 2008
Apparently the mom didn’t give a crap about her own kids. If she saw them on the 17th and didn’t report his ass. Crack whore!
11:45 am on January 30th, 2008
I think it is a safe bet that drugs are behind this…for both parents. What else, besides cold bloodedness, would cause someone to allow their children to suffer this way?
Its so sad. Starvation is a horrible way to die. Hell, I get crabby when I get my lunch too late. You know these babies cried until they didn’t have the strength. So sad.
11:50 am on January 30th, 2008
Another dad reaches out to the system and gets crucified by the press,
Sicko
12:12 pm on January 30th, 2008
Starvation is a slow, cruel, very painful way to die. Especially for a baby. What a horrible man.
12:36 pm on January 30th, 2008
Jerald needs to be put on that special laxative diet… until he weighs 10 pounds.
1:32 pm on January 30th, 2008
Yes, they cried until they realized there was no help for them in the world. How dare the bastard feed himself and lie around in a stupor all day (I’m guessing), while his kids starve. The system will do nothing to him that remotely resembles the hell he put his babies through. Damn his eyes and every other part of him, too.
9:19 pm on January 30th, 2008
They really should look at charging the mother as well, since she was there on the 17th and didn’t do anything either.
9:47 pm on January 30th, 2008
A 17 month old should weigh say around 23 or so pounds. Family and mom just didn’t notice baby was sooo small? No one wanted to be bothered with another perosn to care for!
The new diet- fuck Jenny Craig. THERE is NO excuse for this shit.
5:08 pm on April 30th, 2008
The mother and grandmother of a 17-month-old boy who starved to death in January were arrested today, police said.
The mother, Chisa Hughes, 23, of Clifton Avenue, is named in a grand jury indictment on charges of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated child neglect. The grandmother, Katina Ballard, 49, of Cardinal Avenue, was indicted on two counts of failure to report child abuse and one count of aggravated child neglect.
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=59892
5:26 pm on April 30th, 2008
Thanks for the update, Unamused Cat.
I can’t believe they’ve actually been charged, because….well, because it makes so much sense.
Finally, something does.
5:41 pm on April 30th, 2008
Well, it’s about friggin’ time.
Thanks, Cat! As you always say (and it always makes me grin), Bah…..
5:50 pm on April 30th, 2008
They have evidence that the mother and grandmother knew? I hope they’re all found guilty of all charges and are dealt maximum sentences.
Geez…Here I was thinking that dad had simply become a drug addict and had isolated himself. That’s the only thing that made sense to me…but at least it made sense. This doesn’t, anymore. I just can’t wrap my mind around multiple people being casually involved in the demise of babies.
11:38 am on May 1st, 2008
[...] views Nashville, TN – Some of you might remember a story we did back in January about a guy named Jerald Hicks, who starved his children. Hicks’ 17-month-old son, Jerald Hicks Jr., was dead on arrival at an emergency room on [...]
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