Local parents plead guilty after children found ‘severely’ malnourished

RIVERSIDE — Two Riverside parents accused of “serious child abuse” have pleaded to charges.

Maleah Renee Henry-Reed, 21, and Dustin William Shade, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering children this week, according to court documents filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Riverside parents indicted after children found ‘severely’ malnourished

Henry-Reed and Shade were indicted on several criminal charges in January. As part of a plea agreement, two additional counts of endangering children and one count of tampering with evidence were dismissed.

Both were sentenced to five years of probation.

As News Center 7 previously reported, Henry-Reed took her daughter, who was 15 months old at the time, to Hope Medical Center in January because she was sick.

The child was immediately taken by ambulance to Dayton Children’s Hospital and was admitted to the intensive care unit. Police were dispatched to the hospital by medical staff on child endangerment concerns.

The child was so malnourished that she weighed less than 10 lbs, which is closer to that of a 15-week-old child.

>> Beavercreek Walmart shooting probed as partially ‘racially motivated,’ FBI says

Riverside police obtained a search warrant for Henry-Reed and Shade’s home. The house was “a mess” and “smelled of urine,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck, Jr. previously said.

When officers went to search the home, they were met with Shade, the child’s father. He was also holding the couple’s 5-year-old son. The boy was taken to the hospital and also found to be severely malnourished, only weighing about 20 lbs.

During the investigation, it was also learned that Henry-Reed is pregnant with the pair’s third child.

“There is simply no excuse for what these starving children endured,” Heck previously said. “These defendants were literally starving their children to death. Thankfully the victims received the urgent medical care they desperately needed.”

© 2023 Cox Media Group