Johnson County prosecutors have charged the parents of a 1-year-old who died in May 2023 with murder, alleging the child was malnourished and died due to neglect.
Kevin Scott Martenia, 31, and Alexis Siera Williams, 30, of Overland Park, were both charged in Johnson County District Court in March with three felonies in relation to two child victims: the child who died, identified as WJAM, and another child between the ages of 6 and 18. Both adults were charged with first-degree murder, aggravated endangerment of a child and abuse of a child.
An autopsy determined that the deceased child, who weighed 11.7 pounds at the time of his death, died from telescopic bowel, which caused intestinal obstruction. The child was in the 0th percentile for head size and weight and in the 0.2th percentile for height, an Overland Park police sergeant wrote in an affidavit released this week.
X-rays showed malnutrition in the child, and the cause of the girl’s death was ruled to be malnutrition and dehydration due to neglect, according to court documents. Her manner of death was ruled homicide.
Both Martenia and Williams remain in custody at the New Century Adult Detention Center in Johnson County on $1 million bail, according to jail records.
An attorney for Martenia declined to comment on the allegations. An attorney for Williams did not respond to a request for comment.
Police were initially called to an Overland Park apartment on May 22, 2023 — three days after WJAM’s first birthday — for a child who wasn’t breathing. Shortly after police arrived, medical staff pronounced the girl dead, according to the affidavit. Initially, officers reported that the child appeared small and that they could see her ribs.
Martenia told police he had put the girl to bed the night before, and in the morning he came in to find the child face down on the bed with a teddy bear on top of her.
“Martenia said he was confused because he didn’t know why or how WJAM would have died,” the sergeant wrote. “Martenia said WJAM had no medical problems that he was aware of.”
Williams told police there were no falls, injuries or problems and that the child had a “clean organic diet” and “made a point to mention that his eating is not restricted,” the sergeant wrote. She further told authorities that she did not know the child’s pediatrician and did not know when the child was last seen by a doctor.
Two other children were found in the house. In an interview at a child advocacy center, a child said that her father had told her that WJAM had suffocated her and said that her parents had told her that “the police would talk to her and take her away if she said anything wrong.” bad”.
One child described “screaming” from both parents, including Williams using a curtain rod that broke from an especially hard blow. Court documents describe attacks by Martenia using a belt, sandal, rope and charger.
A child was treated at Children’s Mercy Hospital and was assessed as having been physically abused, according to court documents.
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