Babies' Deaths Called 'Unfathomable' Abuse
KENT, Wash., Nov. 18, 2004 — -- The mother of two young boys found starved to death in an apartment well-stocked with food was charged Wednesday with two counts of second-degree murder.
Marie Robinson, 36, of Kent, was also charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, accused of neglecting another son, age 2, King County prosecutors said.
"The degree of neglect is unfathomable," prosecutor Norm Maleng said. "This is one of the most tragic cases I've seen in my years in office."
Robinson was held on $2 million bail pending an arraignment Nov. 30 at the Regional Justice Center in Kent. If convicted, she faces 20 to 36 years in prison, prosecutors said.
The horrific case has raised questions about the performance of the state's Department of Social and Health Services, because the agency had investigated allegations of abuse against Robinson on at least four occasions.
Officers found the bodies of 6-week-old Raiden and 16-month-old Justice on Sunday when they were called to Robinson's apartment by her boyfriend, Christopher Bone, the children's father.
Bone, who had been jailed in Kitsap County, told police he went to the apartment after his release Sunday and got no response. He said he had been trying to contact Robinson by telephone for 10 days.
Police found Robinson passed out in bed, surrounded by more than 300 empty beer cans and garbage, in an apartment smelling strongly of urine and feces, prosecutors said in court documents.
After her arrest, Robinson's blood alcohol level was .40, five times the .08 threshold at which a Washington state driver is considered intoxicated.
Autopsies indicated the two children, already chronically malnourished, went without sufficient food or water for two to four days before they died of malnutrition and dehydration. A refrigerator and pantry in the apartment were stocked with frozen food, bread, canned fruit and 11 unopened cans of infant formula, according to court documents.
The King County medical examiner's office estimated the boys had been dead between one to three days before their bodies were found.
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