Several family members and a visiting nurse have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 7-year-old boy who was found severely malnourished in Fort Lauderdale on Christmas Day last year.
Fort Lauderdale police announced Wednesday that the five arrests are in connection with the Dec. 25, 2023 death of Deonte Atwell.
Police and firefighters were dispatched to a home near the 1700 block of Southwest 11th Avenue after reports of Atwell having a medical emergency.
Atwell was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. She had only turned 7 on Dec. 23, two days before, but prosecutors said she may have been dead “for some time.”
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Investigators found Atwell required home health care services and determined that the failure of several family members and visiting nurses to provide adequate medical care contributed to the worsening abuse and death, authorities said.
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors said Atwell had endured a long period of starvation, was severely malnourished and neglected, and weighed just seven pounds when she died.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office said Atwell was diagnosed at birth as a “medically complex child” with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, and required breathing and feeding tubes and around-the-clock skilled nursing care.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, investigators found 264 unopened bottles of formula milk inside Atwell’s home.
“It’s sad that Deonte died the way he did,” Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Jacqueline Sanchez told reporters Wednesday. “I have to say that Deonte has been tortured throughout his life by the people who should have cared for him the most.”
Prosecutors said Atwell’s two brothers, ages 9 and 16, had been sharing a bed with her at her home before her death.
Deonte Atwell’s brother, Tyreek Ervin, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with murdering his 7-year-old brother in Fort Lauderdale.
Investigators also found that Atwell died in the midst of a scheme to defraud Medicaid, which officials said was conservatively estimated to be more than $10,000 but less than $50,000.
Sanchez said Atwell may have been suffering for six months to a year.
“I was very anxious. I lost sleep a lot of times,” Sanchez said.
Among those arrested is Atwell’s mother, Michelle Doe, 37, who is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated child abuse and two counts of child neglect.
Atwell’s brother, 21-year-old Tyreek Ervin, was also arrested on similar charges, and her grandfather, 70-year-old James Graham, is charged with negligent death of a child, child neglect and failure to report child abuse.
Broward County Sheriff’s Office
The owner of the in-home health care provider, 47-year-old Mirland Mortimer Ameda, is charged with third-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, Medicaid fraud and child neglect.
Cassandre Lasseg, 33, the nurse who cared for Atwell, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, third-degree felony murder, aggravated child abuse and Medicaid fraud.
According to prosecutors, Ameda is the owner of Samaritan Homecare Providers, a company that is enrolled in Medicaid, and Lasseg is a licensed registered nurse who was employed by the homecare provider company to provide in-home care to Atwell in the months before her death.
Broward County Sheriff’s Office
Sanchez said the nurses had stopped coming to the home, but they were still investigating how long they had been coming for. She said the nurses had also written paperwork stating they were at the home when they weren’t.
“If she had been there, I think she might have noticed Deonte’s condition worsening and said something,” Sanchez said. “Starvation didn’t happen overnight.”
All of the suspects were arrested on Tuesday. Irvin, Graham, Amedda and Lasseg made their initial court appearances Wednesday morning, where Irvin, Amedda and Lasseg were ordered held without bail. Graham’s bail was set at $22,000 and he could be released on house arrest with an electronic GPS monitor if he posts bail.
Doe is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.
Police said the case is being investigated by the Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud and Management Unit.
Anyone with further information is asked to contact police at 954-828-5570.
