Angel Poole, 23, of Birmingham, Iowa, was arrested Friday by officers of the Van Buren County Sheriff’s office on a charge of child endangerment causing death in the starvation death last July of her 2-month-old son, Judah Wessels.
The 67-day-old infant was “markedly malnourished” at the time of death, according to a report by the state medical examiner in Ankeny who performed the autopsy. The cause of death was ruled to be starvation and dehydration, the autopsy found.
According to a statement issued Friday by the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Poole called 911 on July 7, 2016, saying her son was having difficulty breathing. Emergency responders transported the child to the Van Buren County Hospital, where he died at 4:40 a.m., about an hour after Poole notified authorities.
Poole is being held in the Van Buren County Jail under $15,000 bond.
The Van Buren County Sheriff’s office, Van Buren County Attorney’s office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Iowa Medical Examiner’s office were involved in the investigation.
A Gofundme page for Judah Wessels was created July 7, 2016, by Judah’s aunt titled, “Funeral fund for sweet baby Judah.”
“On May 1, 2016, my sister welcomed a handsome little boy to the world,” the Gofundme narrative reads. “In the early morning of July 7, 2016, my nephew Judah was having difficulty breathing. My sister Angel called an ambulance, but sweet little Judah passed away at the hospital. He was only 2 months old.”
Why is this a local news story as horrible as it is?
We sometimes range beyond our strictly local confines if and when stories strike us as interesting or morally edifying.