OAKWOOD, Ga. — Two young men are defending their mother who’s charged with child cruelty for not taking her youngest son to the hospital. Police said the 14-year-old boy weighed only 49 pounds, and a doctor said he was in critical condition.
Hashabah Yehudah, 44, was arrested July 25 at her Oakwood apartment after a doctor’s office called police to do a welfare check on the child.
The Division of Family and Children Services also came to the apartment and paramedics took the boy to Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital.
Yehudah remains in the Hall County Jail with no bond.
“They’re basically trying to paint her like she was neglecting him or anything, and that’s definitely not the case,” Meshael Garrett, 24, the boy’s brother, told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims.
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He said the child was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease with symptoms that include weight loss. He described his mother as an attentive caretaker who took the boy to various doctors.
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“She was right on him, 24-7, making sure that he had everything that he needed,” said his 18-year-old brother Jeremiah Gray.
The arrest warrant says a pediatric gastroenterologist repeatedly called Yehudah to say lab results showed he was in critical condition and needed hospital care, but she was “screening” her calls and not answering.
Garrett said his brother had a bad experience with an infusion at Scottish Rite, and his mother wanted him to go to a hospital in Gainesville. He also said Yehudah had begun seeking natural remedies and taking the boy to herbalists “to cure his condition the natural way because he didn’t like the medical way.”
He said his mother works from home and homeschools the 14-year-old, noting that she may have missed the doctor’s calls because she was busy with work calls.
“I know for a fact if she knew how dangerous it could be, she’s not going to just not take him,” he said. “She’s not that type of person. She’s never neglected him.”
On Friday, Garrett and Gray spoke on FaceTime with their little brother, who was in his bed at Scottish Rite. “He’s doing better now,” Garrett said. “He’s in the hospital, he’s gained 10, 15 pounds already. He’s eating again.”
Lt. Stewart Webb of the Oakwood Police Department said investigators plan to interview the 14-year-old to determine if more charges are warranted. The boy is in the custody of DFCS.
“I know the situation seems bad, but she doesn’t deserve to be in jail,” Garrett said. “She didn’t have the resources to get things done, I guess.”
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