Krista and Tyler Schindley, a Georgia couple, were denied bail after prosecutors made startling accusations against them regarding the starvation and mistreatment of their 10-year-old son.
During Monday’s court hearing in Spalding County, the judge agreed with the state prosecutors and ruled against the couple’s request for bail. The Schindleys were arrested in May in connection to charges concerning their son’s starvation and abuse. It was reported in court that the couple had planned for their son to die without anyone knowing he had ever existed.
The judge in the case believed that the Schindleys posed a considerable flight risk, had the potential to threaten witnesses, and posed a threat to the community. Their son had been found walking towards a grocery store in May, malnourished and pleading not to return home. The couple was charged with attempted homicide in the second degree, attempted malice murder in the first degree, numerous counts of cruelty to children in the first, second, and third degree, battery, simple battery, and false imprisonment.
All the other children in the house were taken away and put in the custody of the Georgia Department of Family and Children’s Services. It was also reported that the children were being homeschooled.
According to the warrants, the Schindleys had caused their son “cruel and excessive physical and mental pain” when they deprived him of food, withheld medical attention, and locked him in his bedroom “for extended periods and on multiple occasions” with no access to lights, food, clothing, or adult interaction. When the boy was discovered, he only weighed 36 pounds, substantially less than the normal, healthy weight of a 10-year-old in the United States, according to the CDC.
The prosecutor in the case, Marie Broder, stated that “This child was, quite frankly, being starved to death, and it is tragic. I truly believe that if he had not gotten out of that home, this would be a very different case.”
It was also recently revealed that the 10-year-old had been physically abused by his older adult stepbrother, Ethan Washburn, who was arrested on two felony counts of aggravated assault. He was accused of choking the child with both hands.
The Schindleys have shared children, as well as children from prior relationships, which were mentioned by officials. Four other minors were living in the same house as the 10-year-old, but there were no signs of abuse in them.
During the bond hearing, the prosecutor argued that the Schindleys’ other children were used as a source of income. “They gain quite a bit of financial benefit from fostering five children and then adopting them,” the prosecutor said near the end of the hearing. “So, they have access to uncounted funds that would give them the ability to flee the jurisdiction.”
When asked if they had anything to say, the Schindleys, who did not appear to have legal counsel, replied that they did not. They were taken to the Spalding County Jail, where they remain in custody.