Youngstown couple accused of starving infant arraigned
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A couple accused of starving an infant for more than a year remain in the Mahoning County jail after their arraignment on felony child-endangering charges Tuesday in common pleas court.
Marquis Allen, 32, and Cherie Jones, 25, both of East Lucius Avenue, were arraigned before Magistrate Timothy Welsh on a second-degree charge of child endangering and a third-degree charge of child endangering.
Both have been in jail since they were arrested Sept. 9. They were indicted by a grand jury Sept. 3.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa said the pair are accused of the mistreatment of a baby girl placed in their custody as a foster child in January 2014.
Cantalamessa said when the couple received the child, she weighed 8 pounds. When she went to her first doctor’s appointment in February of this year, she had gained only 1 pound. Cantalamessa said staff at the doctor’s office notified authorities and the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, which investigates cases for the county Children Services Board, began an investigation in March.
“She [the baby] was so underweight, she couldn’t even lift her head,” Cantalamessa said.
Cantalamessa said the baby was given formula at the doctor’s office and immediately gained a pound. The baby is now in the hands of the CSB, Cantalamessa said.
Both Jones and Allen have been in the jail without bond since their arrest pending arraignment, and Welsh said he did not want to set bond. He said he would leave that matter up to the judge who was assigned to the case, Judge Maureen A. Sweeney.
A pretrial date for both was set for Friday, where the issue of bond could be raised. A trial date of Nov. 9 was set for each of them.
Neither has a criminal record.