Missouri — A Missouri couple is accused of nearly starving their 1-year-old son to death, allegedly failing to feed the special-needs toddler despite having plenty of food at home, with the father blaming their failures on smoking pot and “falling asleep.”
Braxton Blevins and Emily Katz were arrested earlier this week and charged with one count of child abuse and one count of child endangerment, according to court records.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on March 1, 2025, officers from the Carthage Police Department responded to a call from Children’s Mercy Hospital about a 1-year-old male juvenile who had been admitted with “severe malnutrition, starvation, recurrent infections, and failure to thrive.”
Medical personnel informed authorities that the victim had been hospitalized several times in his short life for similar conditions.
“In each instance, when placed under hospital-supervised care and fed according to the prescribed protocol, the juvenile gained weight and improved,” according to the testimony. “Hospital staff stated this demonstrated the victim’s medical complications were treatable with proper care and nutrition, which Blevins was trained on and said he was providing.”
Despite the couple’s claims that Blevins was providing proper care for their son at home and following the prescribed feeding plan, officers said they discovered between 10 and 20 unused bags of the victim’s “Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)” stored in the family refrigerator. One bag of TPN, required daily, provides nearly 80% of the child’s total daily caloric requirements.
The bags were administered via a central line feeding tube.
“The presence of excess TPN supplies indicated the juvenile was not receiving the prescribed nutrition,” the cops said.
While hospital staff informed authorities that both parents had completed the medical training required to care for their son’s nutritional needs, they also stated that each subsequent time the victim was hospitalized, neither parent was “consistently unable to explain the home care provided or account for the juvenile’s weight loss and deteriorating condition.”
The hospital’s safety, care, and nurturing team determined that there was enough evidence that the victim was consistently missing feedings and that his repeated hospitalizations were “the result of Blevins’ neglect.”
Blevins allegedly admitted to investigators that he was aware that his son had “critical medical needs” that included the daily feeding bag. He also admitted to “missing multiple feedings, particularly during the final month of care, due to marijuana use and falling asleep,” according to the affidavit.
“Blevins confirmed that during the 94 days the juvenile victim was in his custody, the child lost approximately 5.5 pounds, while corresponding medical records show the victim consistently gained weight when hospitalized and cared for by medical staff,” the report states. “Blevins admitted he recognized he could not meet the victim’s medical needs, but continued custody due to fear of losing rights to their other child.”
Katz told police that she struggled to keep their home clean and “acknowledged improper care” of the victim, his central line, and feeding tube.
When informed of the charges against her, Katz “offered no reasonable explanation for the failures in care and terminated the interview,” according to police.
Both parents were arrested and released after posting bond, on the condition that they have no contact with minors under the age of 18. According to court records, they are scheduled to be arraigned on May 28.
