Trial Set For Couple Charged With Starving Autistic Girl

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A mother and stepfather accused of starving an autistic teenager are set to face trial beginning Monday.

Jade Marie Anne Jacobs and William Anthony Brown were charged in August 2014 for abusing Jacobs' 15-year-old daughter.

Police at the time said the girl weighed less than 60 pounds, had bruises all over her body and was kept in a closet that “reeked of feces and urine."

Jacobs and Brown face charges of cruelty to children and false imprisonment — both felonies.

Jacobs was arrested after Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite called police to report the suspected abuse.

The mother called 911 before taking her daughter to the hospital, telling the dispatcher her daughter was becoming more violent toward her three younger sisters and was cutting herself.

Jacobs reportedly told police that the girl’s bruises came from fighting with her siblings, and her malnourishment was because she didn’t eat regularly.

A Gwinnett County detective testified in a 2014 hearing that the room the girl was kept in was about the size of a cubicle and had a small exercise mat on the floor. He said the girl’s clothes were covered in urine and feces.

Detective Brian Dorminy also testified that a heavy dumbbell hand weight was propped up against the door to the room to keep it closed.