Severely Malnourished Boy With Autism Weighed Only 30 Pounds When He Was Murdered By Mom, Husband

Two parents from the Bronx, New York were arrested on Tuesday, March 22, for the murder of their child, after they allegedly abused and battered the toddler repeatedly before bringing him to the hospital where he subsequently died.

Twenty-nine-year-old Sharay Barney and 33-year-old Michael Ransom have been arrested with charges of murder, manslaughter, and aggravated manslaughter in relation to the death of their 8-year-old son Joseph Barney, according to the New York Post.

The boy, who was an autistic child, was taken to the hospital on June 1, 2021 after he was found unconscious by his mother when she came home from work. They rushed him to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead, NBC News reported.

“We took care of him,” Ransom claimed. “I loved him like my own son.”

The pair were questioned on the day the boy died after doctors found that he weighed only 30 pounds, which was 25 pounds below the average weight for his age. In spite of that, both Ransom and Barney denied ever abusing the child.

“They weren’t even giving me time to grieve with my son, even though I saw how he looked and I can’t get it out of my head,” she said when she was being questioned. “They have no respect ... I was detained in two different rooms. And they locked me inside the room and I felt like I was in jail.”

However, the medical examiner who looked into Joseph Barney’s body found signs of systematic and repeated beatings and punishment, with many believing that the parents intentionally malnourished their child.

Although no domestic violence calls have come from their household during the Barneys’ stay at his home, Ransom has been arrested multiple times for domestic violence assaults on his previous girlfriends.

The couple has yet to comment at this time regarding their case.