Parents arrested in death of 5-year-old Baltimore girl charged with abuse, neglect

BALTIMORE - The parents of a young girl who was found dead in a Baltimore home Monday have been arrested and charged with abuse and neglect.

According to police documents, officers responded to a home in the 2200 block of Aiken Street on October 14 where they found 5-year-old Zona Byrd dead in an upstairs bedroom.

According to a police report, Zona’s body was in a "severely emaciated state" and her "ribs were clearly visible." The report continued that "it was readily apparent that the victim was extremely malnourished."

Bernice Betty Byrd (l) and Gerald Byrd (r) (Baltimore Police)

The report says the parents, Bernice Betty Byrd, 32, and Gerald Byrd, 34, told investigators that Zona complained of a head injury after a disagreement with her brother on the previous Friday. The report said Zona’s brother shared a bedroom with the girl and "never mentioned to his parents that the deceased victim, Zona, had not moved."

"Neither parent could advise of the last time they saw the deceased victim alive," the report continued. The report also said neither could account for when the girl was last fed. Gerald told officers that Zona "had gone through the garbage trying to find nourishment," the documents stated.

The other juveniles in the home were taken to Johns Hopkins and Child Protective Services were notified. At least one of the male children treated at Hopkins "could barely stand or walk when he was discovered in the house," the police report said. "Detectives described him as gaunt. It was found at the hospital that this six year old child was also severely malnourished and only weighed 35 pounds," the documents stated.

The report states that after a search warrant was obtained, investigators found that "all the kitchen cupboards were bare of any food. The freezer was packed with meat. The only item in the refrigerator was a salad." They also found non-perishable food in the bedroom closet, but those items were kept out of Zona’s reach.

On Tuesday, officials said both parents were taken to the city’s Central Booking Intake Facility and were charged with first and second-degree child abuse and neglect of a child resulting in death.

Police say homicide detectives are continuing their investigation and that the official cause of  Zona’s death has not yet been determined.