Family members and home health aide charged in murder of 7-year-old on Christmas Day in Fort Lauderdale – NBC 6 South Florida

Several family members and nurses have been arrested in connection with the murder of a seven-year-old child who was found horribly malnourished in Fort Lauderdale on Christmas Day last year.

The five arrests are related to the death of Deonte Atwell on December 25, 2023, Fort Lauderdale police said Wednesday.

Police and firefighters were called to a home near the 1700 block of Southwest 11th Street after a medical emergency was reported involving Atwell.

Atwell was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Atwell had turned 7 just two days earlier, on Dec. 23, but prosecutors said it appeared he had been dead “for quite some time.”

Investigators found that Atwell's illness required home nursing care and concluded that several family members and home health care providers failed to provide him with adequate medical care, leading to severe abuse and ultimately his death, officials said.

In court on Wednesday, prosecutors said Atwell had been starving for a long period of time, was terribly malnourished and neglected, and weighed only three kilograms when he died.

The Broward State Attorney's Office said Atwell was diagnosed at birth as a “medically complex child” with thoracic spina bifida and hydrocephalus; he is on a ventilator and feeding tube and requires skilled nursing care around the clock.

Investigators found 264 unopened bottles of Atwell's baby formula in the house, prosecutors said.

“It's sad that Deonte had to die this way,” Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Jacqueline Sanchez told reporters Wednesday. “It's sad that Deonte suffered until his death at the hands of the people who should have cared for him the most.”

Atwell's nine- and 16-year-old siblings shared a bed with him in the house before his death, prosecutors said.

Tyreck Irvin, brother of Deonte Atwell, appears in court after being charged in the death of his seven-year-old sibling in Fort Lauderdale.

Investigators also found that Atwell died while evading Medicaid programs. Damages are conservatively estimated at more than $10,000 but less than $50,000, officials said.

Sanchez said it was possible Atwell had been suffering for six months to a year.

“It was very disturbing. I can tell you that I couldn't sleep more than once,” Sanchez said.

Among those arrested was Atwell's mother, 37-year-old Michelle Doe, who is charged with first-degree murder, manslaughter of a child, aggravated child abuse and two counts of child neglect, among other charges.

Atwell's brother, 21-year-old Tyreck Irvin, was arrested on similar charges, while his grandfather, 70-year-old James Graham, faces charges of aggravated murder of a child, child neglect and failure to report child abuse.

Broward Sheriff's Office

The owner of the home care service, 47-year-old Mirlande Moltimer Ameda, is charged with first-degree murder, manslaughter of a child, Medicaid fraud and child neglect.

Atwell's nurse, 33-year-old Cassandre Lassegue, faces charges of first-degree murder, manslaughter of a child, third-degree first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and Medicaid fraud.

Prosecutors said Ameda owned Samaritan Home Care Provider, Inc., a registered Medicaid provider, and Lassegue was a registered nurse who was hired by the care provider to care for Atwell at home in the months before his death.

Broward Sheriff's Office

Sanchez said the nurse stopped visiting the home, but it is still under investigation as to when. She also filled out paperwork confirming her presence even though she was not there, Sanchez said.

“I think if she had been there, she might have seen Deonte's condition deteriorating and maybe said something,” Sanchez said. “The starvation didn't happen overnight.”

All suspects were arrested Tuesday. Irvin, Graham, Ameda and Lassegue made their first court appearance Wednesday morning, where Irvin, Ameda and Lassegue were ordered held without bail. Graham's bail was set at $22,000 and he could be released on bail under house arrest with GPS electronic monitoring.

Doe was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.

The case is being investigated by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud and Oversight Division, police said.

Anyone with further information is asked to call police at 954-828-5570.