A Georgia woman has been charged with felony murder after her 3-year-old child died of malnutrition, Gwinnett County authorities said.
Devin Shameka Moon, 29, was arrested July 25, after an autopsy showed that her daughter Reygan Moon was malnourished. The girl’s cause of death was determined to be neglect.
Devin Moon called 911 on the afternoon of July 24 after she found the toddler cold and unresponsive. Reygan Moon was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived at Moon’s Lilburn home.
She told detectives that her daughter was born with a medical issue that prevented her from gaining weight. An autopsy did not find any disorder that would have caused such a condition. The little girl weighed just 14 lbs at the time of her death, half the weight of a normal 3-year-old child, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Investigators also discovered that Moon regularly left the child home alone when she worked, authorities said.
Family members had previously reported Moon to the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services out of concern for the toddler. In response, Moon severed ties with them and they had not seen the little girl for close to a year before her death, according to police.
Moon is jailed at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.
