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Woman Charged With Starving, Beating Children Arraigned
Aired January 10, 2003 - 10:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More on the developing story we've been following out of Newark, New Jersey. The woman charged with starving and beating children in her care was arraigned this morning, and our Jamie Colby has more on that -- Jamie.
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.
Sherry Murphy waived her right to appear in court today, but the public defender's office did enter a plea of not guilty. Bail was initially set at $250,000 but it's been revoked based on a probation violation.
Now Sherry Murphy is the woman that was entrusted with the care of three young boys. She was a cousin of the boy's mother. The mother was serving a prison sentence for child abuse herself, left the boys with Murphy. And then on Saturday, the police in Newark made a discovery of two of the boys locked in her basement, starving, dehydrated, and in really poor condition. The third boy, Fahim Williams, who was 7 years old, a twin of the one of the other boys who remains hospitalized, was found on Sunday. His body was stuffed in a plastic storage bin.
Police are still unsure how long it had been there. Now, the investigation is continuing, but in the meantime, Sherry Murphy has been charged with three counts of child endangerment in the second degree. We know that the charges may be escalated as the homicide investigation continues in this case in connection with the death of 7-year-old Fahim.
In the meantime, yesterday when Sherry Murphy was being questioned, she said she felt ill and ended up being taken to a New Jersey hospital, University Hospital, in a twist of fate, the same hospital where the two surviving brothers are being treated. They remain in serious condition.
And authorities who are in charge of supervising their care, the Division of Youth and Family Services, who all along was to be supervising the boys in Murphy's care, says they have taken custody of the boys, but it's unclear yet where the boys, who have two different fathers , will go -- Daryn.
KAGAN: You need a road map to follow the story. One thing is consistent, all of the adults at this state and the boys' lives, have let down the boys, no doubt about that.
Question here, as I understand it, Sherry Murphy, who is charged with this is pointing fingers at the boys' mother, saying she is responsible for the death and abuse.
COLBY: Yes, sources do say that she says that Malinda (ph) Williams, the boy's mother, is responsible for the death of 7-year-old Fahim. We haven't reviewed any documents to that effect, though they may exist. We're looking into that at the moment.
But the bottom line is Malinda (ph) Williams, the mother of the boys, who was in jail on child abuse charges herself, she's is in a New York City hospital. She says when she got out of jail, Murphy had moved with the boys, she couldn't find them, and when she tried to find them, and eventually got word where they were when police discovered them she made her way toward Newark from New York City and ended up getting hit by a car. Police say she is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Lincoln Hospital in New York City.
So the boys have not been in contact with their mother. One of the boys' father, 4-year-old Tyrone, did contact Mayor Sharpe James of Newark, who has been very involved in the case and has visited the boys on a couple of occasions, saying he wants his son to move back to Vermont, which authorities are reviewing his request. But the mayor saying after everything they've been through, all the abuse of their caregiver, their mother, couldn't it be sad to separate two boys who only have each other -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Absolutely. We were listening to the news conference yesterday. He said there's only one person the boys trust, and that's the other one. Certainly no trust for adults.
COLBY: We'll keep you posted.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 10, 2003 - 10:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More on the developing story we've been following out of Newark, New Jersey. The woman charged with starving and beating children in her care was arraigned this morning, and our Jamie Colby has more on that -- Jamie.
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.
Sherry Murphy waived her right to appear in court today, but the public defender's office did enter a plea of not guilty. Bail was initially set at $250,000 but it's been revoked based on a probation violation.
Now Sherry Murphy is the woman that was entrusted with the care of three young boys. She was a cousin of the boy's mother. The mother was serving a prison sentence for child abuse herself, left the boys with Murphy. And then on Saturday, the police in Newark made a discovery of two of the boys locked in her basement, starving, dehydrated, and in really poor condition. The third boy, Fahim Williams, who was 7 years old, a twin of the one of the other boys who remains hospitalized, was found on Sunday. His body was stuffed in a plastic storage bin.
Police are still unsure how long it had been there. Now, the investigation is continuing, but in the meantime, Sherry Murphy has been charged with three counts of child endangerment in the second degree. We know that the charges may be escalated as the homicide investigation continues in this case in connection with the death of 7-year-old Fahim.
In the meantime, yesterday when Sherry Murphy was being questioned, she said she felt ill and ended up being taken to a New Jersey hospital, University Hospital, in a twist of fate, the same hospital where the two surviving brothers are being treated. They remain in serious condition.
And authorities who are in charge of supervising their care, the Division of Youth and Family Services, who all along was to be supervising the boys in Murphy's care, says they have taken custody of the boys, but it's unclear yet where the boys, who have two different fathers , will go -- Daryn.
KAGAN: You need a road map to follow the story. One thing is consistent, all of the adults at this state and the boys' lives, have let down the boys, no doubt about that.
Question here, as I understand it, Sherry Murphy, who is charged with this is pointing fingers at the boys' mother, saying she is responsible for the death and abuse.
COLBY: Yes, sources do say that she says that Malinda (ph) Williams, the boy's mother, is responsible for the death of 7-year-old Fahim. We haven't reviewed any documents to that effect, though they may exist. We're looking into that at the moment.
But the bottom line is Malinda (ph) Williams, the mother of the boys, who was in jail on child abuse charges herself, she's is in a New York City hospital. She says when she got out of jail, Murphy had moved with the boys, she couldn't find them, and when she tried to find them, and eventually got word where they were when police discovered them she made her way toward Newark from New York City and ended up getting hit by a car. Police say she is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Lincoln Hospital in New York City.
So the boys have not been in contact with their mother. One of the boys' father, 4-year-old Tyrone, did contact Mayor Sharpe James of Newark, who has been very involved in the case and has visited the boys on a couple of occasions, saying he wants his son to move back to Vermont, which authorities are reviewing his request. But the mayor saying after everything they've been through, all the abuse of their caregiver, their mother, couldn't it be sad to separate two boys who only have each other -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Absolutely. We were listening to the news conference yesterday. He said there's only one person the boys trust, and that's the other one. Certainly no trust for adults.
COLBY: We'll keep you posted.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
