Floyd and Tina Wimes, accused of murdering their 6-year-old son by beating and starvation. Photo via CBS/Philadelphia Prosecutors Office
The parents of 6-year-old Khalil Wimes of Philadelphia are being held on first degree murder charges following the boy’s death last month.
According to The Reporter, the medical examiner assigned to the case testified that the 6-year-old weighed only 29 pounds at the time of his death and had 15 visible scars on his face alone. The examiner testified that Khalil had numerous other injuries that indicated he suffered frequent abuse before his death March 19.
NBC Philadelphia reports that during a preliminary hearing held on Wednesday, the boy’s father, Floyd Wimes, 48, also known as Latiff Hadi, wiped tears from his eyes while the boy’s mother, Tina Wimes, 44, also known as Tina Cuffie, appeared to cover up a smile as a detective read her alleged confession to the court. According to the NBC report, police say she told them on March 19 that the boy fell when getting out of the bathtub. She allegedly hit him on the back of the head, causing him to become disoriented. She also allegedly told police that she often hit him because he was misbehaving or messing up. Finally, police say she confessed to not letting him out of the house for a month and that he was underweight because he wouldn’t drink water, NBC reports.
According to My Fox Philly, Lareine Nixon and her daughter Alicia served as foster parents to the boy from when he was a week old until he was given back to his biological parents 3 years ago. In 2008, the biological parents petitioned Family Court and were able to get the boy back by meeting DHS’s stipulations that they do six months of drug treatment, find an apartment, become employed, and take a parenting class, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
NBC further reports that the couple’s five other children had already been removed from their care because of an alleged history of drug abuse, neglect and child abuse prior to the boy’s death.
Investigators say a DHS worker had been in the Wimes home before Khalil died to check on another visiting child, reports NBC. The worker has since been put on desk duty.
“I find it extremely troubling that someone from the outside would have seen this child within a few weeks of his death and not made any reports,” said Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann, according to the NBC report.
The attorney for the boy’s parents says that the boy’s death was not intentional and they cannot be convicted of his murder.
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