A Texas woman was convicted of attempted murder after starving the teen she cared for, forcing the boy to undergo unnecessary surgeries and falsely claiming he had a terminal illness — all in a twisted ploy to garner sympathy for herself.
Danita Tutt, 42, was also convicted of causing injury to a child last Friday, local stations KWTX and NBCDFW, along with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram report.
Prosecutors showed Tutt lied to doctors for years and forced the teen to live a life of pain.
She was arrested in the spring of 2016 after child welfare workers called police to report she’d removed the teen, then 13, from the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth, where he had been receiving care, and subsequently withheld food and water from him.
She had also started to make funeral arrangements for the teen and had even purchased a casket, the Star-Telegram reports.
“Mrs. Tutt is an attention-seeking type person and enjoys the attention she gets” from the teen, Child Protective Services documents obtained by the Star-Telegram stated. “There are concerns that she may end [the teen’s] life.”
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Medical staff told CPS Tutt had continuously asked if there was medication the teen could take to “make him go to sleep” and not “wake up,” the paper reports.
Tutt has denied ever purposely hurting the boy, arguing he had health issues since suffering a brain hemorrhage when he was very little, the paper reports.
“This lady has literally devoted her life to taking care of this little boy and his medical problems,” Tutt’s defense attorney Christopher Cooke said, the Star-Telegram reports.
In May 2016, the boy was removed from Tutt’s care. At the time, he weighed only 51 pounds, and used a feeding tube and colostomy bag. Soon after, he began to gain weight and was able to have his colostomy bag removed. He also was weaned off of pain medication he had been on continuously under Tutt’s care.
Cooke could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Tutt faces five years to life for the bodily injury charge and two to 20-years for the attempted murder charge.
