Say Anything Blog

Calling it the worst such case he had ever seen, a pathologist for the Stark County Coroner's Office said Thursday a 17-month-old Canton boy discovered dead in his crib Wednesday night died of starvation.

Findings of the autopsy showed that the child, identified by police as Joshua Rumph, weighed only 10 pounds, 4 ounces, Chief Deputy Coroner P.S.S. Murthy said.

He said Joshua, who lived with his mother in an apartment in the 800 block of Alan Page Drive Southeast, was ``extremely emaciated, extremely thin and has virtually no body fat. All the bony prominences are visible.''

Murthy, who performed the autopsy, said the preliminary cause of death was ruled as ``a severe case of malnourishment.''

Joshua's mother, identified by Canton police as 19-year-old Juanita Johnson-Millender, was arrested on felony charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.

She was being held in the Stark County Jail Thursday in lieu of a $500,000 cash bond, Canton Police Sgt. Jack Angelo said.

When the child was found in his crib Wednesday by Canton Fire Department paramedics, Murthy said Joshua was wearing a little housecoat and some clothes underneath it.

``The clothing was soaked with urine, and the child had extremely severe diaper rash. It's what appears to be an extreme case of neglect,'' Murthy said.