Boy Found Dead in N.J. Basement; Brothers Found Starved NEWARK, N.J. — A 7-year-old boy's remains were found in a plastic storage bin Sunday, a day after his two brothers were found alive but starving in a locked room of the same house, authorities said. Faheem Williams had been dead for weeks, Edward Gordon of the Essex County Prosecutor's Office told The Star-Ledger of Newark. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed Monday. The child's twin brother, Raheem, and another brother, Tyrone, 4, were being treated for starvation and dehydration at University Hospital in Newark. The children remained in fair condition Monday, said hospital spokesman Rogers Ramsey. He could not give details, citing patient confidentiality. Several months ago, the children's mother left them in the care of Sherry Murphy, authorities said. Police were searching for her Monday. Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said authorities were also seeking information on the whereabouts of two or three other children connected to Murphy, although he wasn't sure of their relationship to her. Essex County authorities declined to discuss further details about the case until a news conference scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Neighbors said Murphy kept to herself and was not well known in the working-class neighborhood of two- and three-story multifamily dwellings, just two blocks from Branch Brook Park. Yellow police tape blocked the sidewalk in front of the house on Monday. A police car and two officers kept reporters from approaching the door of the two-story row house with white aluminum siding and light green trim. A hallway light was on, but it was not known if anyone was inside. A next door neighbor, Debra Barnes, 44, said she had never exchanged a greeting with Murphy since moving in two months ago and never saw the three boys. Barnes, however, said she saw a 12- or 13-year-old girl about two weeks ago who referred to Murphy as "mom." "That's the only child I've seen with her. I've never seen her with a 2-year-old or 4-year-old or anything like that. I never saw those kids," Barnes said. Barnes said Murphy looked well-kept, but was not friendly and typically seemed angry. "It looked like she had a damned problem, like she had an attitude. Didn't have a smile," Barnes said. On Sunday morning, police towed the white Dodge Neon driven by Murphy, Barnes said. Murphy's boyfriend found the surviving children Saturday while he was looking for work boots in the basement. Shawn Slappy, 31, told police that the children were in a locked room, Gordon said. Slappy had been living in the house for two weeks and knew nothing about the children, Gordon said. On Sunday, Raheem Williams told investigators at the hospital that he had another brother who had been missing for weeks. Police found Faheem's body in another basement room later that day, Gordon said. Authorities believed the boys' mother was in a New York City hospital after being hit by a car, he said. -------------- horrible, just terrible...
This lady deserves to die. Who does she think she is? Don't assume responsibility for children you cannot take care of? And, don't stuff them in rooms and plastic bins because you cannot take care of them. Ask for help. Anything...you damn witch.
Dont forget the parents............I think that the parents should have some kind of charge placed against them.unless they are already locked up or they are dead.........I hope this women really gets it though
Before we pile on the mom, we should figure out just what went on here. Maybe she's a horrible mom. Maybe she's been nearly unconcscious in the hospital for two weeks and was counting on this other woman to take care of the kids. Tragic either way.
What a serious downer. Makes me upset sometimes just how terrible humans can be. This lady needs to be dealt with accordingly.
FOLLOW UP Go-go dancer sought in boys' starvation captured Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. - The woman who was supposed to be taking care of the three brothers in a torture and abuse case, including a 7-year-old boy whose body was found stuffed in a plastic storage bin, was captured early today in a Newark apartment. Sherry Murphy was found sleeping in the apartment around 2 a.m., police Lt. Derek Glenn said. Police said it was not her apartment, but offered no further details. Murphy had been sought since the body of Faheem Williams was found Sunday, a day after his two brothers were found starving in a locked room. Murphy, who was wanted on child endangerment charges, had been caring for the boys since their mother, Melinda Williams, was jailed on assault charges in March. The FBI has also been preparing a warrant charging Murphy, a go-go dancer who is Williams' cousin, with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Newark police had been flooded with tips that Murphy left New Jersey. Faheem Williams' twin brother, Raheem, 7, and another brother, Tyrone Hill, 4, remained hospitalized Wednesday in fair condition. When they were found, they were cowering under a bed soaked with urine, feces and vomit in the basement of a Newark rowhouse. They were using a jar for a toilet and their hair was infested with lice. They had not eaten in days. Authorities did not know Faheem existed until Raheem said at the hospital that he hadn't seen his twin for a long time. They went back the next day and discovered Faheem's mummified remains in the purple storage box. He had been dead for more than a month. No one has been charged in the death, but authorities have been looking for Murphy, 41, who took the children after Williams was jailed for child abuse. Williams, 31, was hit by a car while rushing to see her children Saturday and is in critical condition at a New York hospital. Before Faheem's death, she told authorities she could not find Murphy or the children after she got out of jail months ago. New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services had received 10 complaints about the family over the past 10 years, including one in October 2001 that Williams was beating and burning her children. Three of the complaints were substantiated: Williams left the children alone in 1996 and 1999, and she failed to get medical attention for another child, 7-year-old Fuquan, after he cut his hand in 1998. The boy, now 11, is in a treatment center in New York. Authorities say at least one of the boys also was molested. A friend of Williams was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexual abuse. Yet the state agency closed the case in February 2002, saying it could not find the boys. That month, Williams was jailed for child endangerment stemming from a 1996 incident and she entrusted the boys to Murphy, who was dancing in bars under the stage name "Ebony." Police said Murphy has a crack habit but no criminal record. When Raheem and Tyrone were rushed to the emergency room, they were weak and undernourished. Tyrone, who showed evidence of scars and burn marks, was put on a liquid diet because he could not handle solid food. A cat in the apartment was immaculately clean and well-fed. "The mere fact that he had food means he was better off than those kids," police Lt. Derek Glenn said. Much of the mistreatment of the boys appeared to have happen while they were supposedly under the protection of the state child welfare agency. Investigators say they were subjected to nearly continuous abuse that included beatings and burnings with cigarettes and hot liquids. "This is the most horrible story I have ever heard," said Mayor Sharpe James. "There's enough blame here to go around for a lot of people."
Death is too good for this lady. I'm always amazed people can do things like this to children. Makes me want to go hug mine. PS- rockHEAD - I just saw the line in your sig about you being lord of the dark side and I went and switched... very nice... thanks.
