After allegedly neglecting and abusing their daughter to the point of death, parents from Ohio have now both pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges.
According to a report from the Cincinnati Enquirer citing Clermont County records, 53-year-old Christopher Hoeb – the father of deceased four-year-old Karmity Hoeb – pleaded guilty to the charges Thursday. The child’s mother, 41-year-old Tamara Banks, pleaded guilty to the same charge last month.
Prosecutors allege that they fed the girl mostly Mountain Dew through a baby bottle. She died from diabetic ketoacidosis in January 2022. This is a serious complication typically associated with Type 1 diabetes, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can develop slowly.
Diabetes causes a buildup of sugar in the blood which can cause damage to multiple organ systems over time.
“DKA develops when your body doesn’t have enough insulin to allow blood sugar into your cells for use as energy,” said the centers. “Instead, your liver breaks down fat for fuel, a process that produces acids called ketones. When too many ketones are produced too fast, they can build up to dangerous levels in your body.”
Per the Enquirer, first responders were able to revive Karmity for a short time before taking her to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. There, scans showed she was brain dead. An autopsy revealed she died from a diabetes-related brain injury.
Hoeb and Banks’ daughter “suffered neglect and abuse for the majority of her life and her parents denied her proper nutrition and medical care, according to prosecutors,” said the Enquirer report. Around four days before she died, Karmity began showing signs of a serious medical issue while at home with her parents, the report added.
Though her symptoms progressively worsened, her parents allegedly did not contact 911 until she turned blue and stopped breathing. Her diabetes was undiagnosed, and prosecutors said she could have lived if her parents provided her with treatment and care.
“Karmity also suffered from a condition that caused her teeth to dissolve due to her being fed sugary soda through a baby bottle,” said the Enquirer. Banks would mix Mountain Dew into the girl’s baby formula, prosecutors said. They were also unable to find evidence that she ever visited a dentist.
This isn’t the first diabetes-associated death in Banks’ family, said the Enquirer. She also has “several other grown children who were treated poorly in her custody,” including a son who fell into a coma from undiagnosed diabetes at the same age as Karmity. Even though he recovered, Banks failed to bring him to follow-up visits.
“People with diabetes may require careful daily monitoring and management of blood glucose levels to prevent serious complications,” said a CDC guide for parents of diabetic children . Even in children who do not have diabetes, the CDC advises caution regarding giving children drinks with caffeine and sugar, such as soda.
At the same time slightly more than one-third (36%) of study children consume some type of sugar-sweetened beverage on a given day at 60 months (5 years old), according to the 2022 WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2: Fifth Year Report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“This is a significant change from 48 months when 33% of study children consumed SSBs,” said the report. “Within this subgroup, fruit-flavored drinks are the most frequently consumed (24%) SSB, with carbonated sodas the second most frequently consumed (9%).”
Karmity’s parents were indicted in July on counts that included murder, involuntary manslaughter and endangering children, said the Enquirer. In exchange for their guilty pleas, only the involuntary manslaughter charges remain, according to the outlet.
Banks is expected to be sentenced next month and Hoeb is expected to be sentenced in June.
While they now face a maximum possible prison sentence of 11 years, the Enquirer explained that a state law that says the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction can extend someone's sentence based on conduct while in prison , the pair could serve up to 16 years and six months. Prosecutors have suggested a seven-year sentence for Hoeb.
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