Two days after the arrest of a Hot Springs woman who allegedly starved her infant last month, the father was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection to the case.
Kody Nathaniel Weber, 20, who lists a Nimbus Street address, was taken into custody shortly after 1 p.m. and charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, a felony punishable by up to six years in jail.
The victim's mother, Summer Rose Kazzee, 18, who reportedly lives with Weber, was taken into custody around 1:30 a.m. Sunday on the same charge. They both remained in custody Tuesday, each held in lieu of $1,500 bond, and are set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, on June 20, a 2-month-old child was admitted to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs on an initial diagnosis of failure to thrive and extreme dehydration. A Department of Human Services family service worker responded to the hospital after receiving a report from the Child Abuse Hotline.
Kazzee and Weber are reportedly the parents and caregivers of the infant. When the child was born on April 24, it weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces, but upon being admitted to the hospital on June 20 weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces, a loss of 7 ounces.
The child has reportedly also missed two scheduled checkups with the primary care physician and appeared to be dehydrated and starving at the time of hospitalization.
Kazzee and Weber have allegedly given conflicting statements regarding the child's care and feeding. Hospital records and medical staff interviews revealed the infant appeared to have temporal wasting, an indication of starvation. A doctor noted the baby should have gained 15 to 30 grams by the age of 2 months, but it had actually lost weight since birth.
The affidavit notes the child has gained 139.5 grams in weight since being hospitalized.
Hospital staff noted Kazzee was "not responding appropriately to their request to feed the child." The child was removed from Kazzee's care and placed in foster care.
Local on 07/20/2016