CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio — Prosecutors said a 4-year-old child in Clermont County suffered at the hands of her parents before she died last year. On Monday, a judge set their bond at $350,000 each.
If they post bond, 40-year-old Tamara Banks and 52-year-old Christopher Hoeb will be required to report to probation immediately. Neither will be allowed contact with children.
Banks and Hoeb were indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangering.
“We're not alleging the traditional physical abuse of broken bones, etc,” said a prosecutor in court Monday. “But just her overall care was so poor, that it resulted in her death. Her diet was absolutely terrible.”
The coroner determined the girl's cause of death was diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that affects people with diabetes. Prosecutors said the girl had diabetes "that was left undiagnosed and untreated over a long period of time."
According to the prosecution, the girl was found unresponsive on Jan. 21, 2022. The couple called 911 and the girl was taken to a hospital. She was eventually declared to be brain dead and ultimately taken off life support.
Prosecutors said the girl died as a direct result of neglect and abuse from her parents, Hoeb and Banks.
“Diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA, is an extreme complication of untreated diabetes,” said Dr. Chris Peltier, President of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Peltier said the condition is not necessarily uncommon among children. He said the onset of diabetes can come quickly and children can get sick quickly. However, left untreated, the condition can cause a coma or even death, he said.
“Eventually, the body will just shut down,” he said.
Prosecutors in court Monday claim the child was not taken to a doctor after an early age.
“When she was born, she was addicted to methadone,” a prosecutor said in court. “She had to be weaned off that and following that point, we had no record that she was ever seen by a physician.”
Peltier said regular medical visits are vital for kids.
Prosecutors also claim Banks and Hoeb fed their daughter mostly Mountain Dew through a baby bottle. When she died, the 4-year-old girl had almost no teeth left in her mouth, because they'd rotted out, prosecutors said.
“If you have a child that has Type 1 diabetes, that's being untreated, and the only thing that they're really getting to drink is Mountain Dew, which is full of sugar, that definitely could sort of contribute to worsening of their diabetes in a very quick and rapid fashion,” said Peltier.
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