Abuse suspected cause of boy, 2, on life support

MOSES LAKE — Grant County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating a suspected case of child abuse that left a 2-year-old Moses Lake boy on life support.

Deputies, AMR paramedics and Grant County Fire District 5 EMTs were called to a home near Moses Lake Wednesday about 1 p.m. where, according to Sheriff’s spokesman Kyle Foreman, they found the boy in a state of extreme malnourishment with no heartbeat.

Firefighters and paramedics started CPR and were able to get the boy’s heart beating again, Foreman said. The boy was taken to Moses Lake’s Samaritan Hospital before being flown by MedStar to Providence-Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where he remained on life support as of Friday afternoon.

When admitted to the hospital the boy weighed less than 10 pounds. Foreman noted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control lists the average weight of a 2-year-old boy in the United States is between 34 to 48 pounds.

One investigating detective, a 23-year law enforcement veteran, reportedly called the case the worst instance of child abuse or neglect he has ever seen.

Detectives served a search warrant on the home Wednesday night and gathered several pieces of evidence, Foreman stated. Four other children living at the home — a 14-year-old boy and three girls ages 10, 7 and 4 — are now in the custody of Child Protective Services.

An investigation is underway and Foreman said more information will be released as the case moves forward.