SEATTLE — A Bellevue couple accused of underfeeding their newborn daughter have been charged with third-degree criminal mistreatment. Prosecutors allege the young mother has said she didn’t want her daughter to be fat.
The couple, 21-year-old Brittainy Labberton and 24-year-old Sam Labberton, are not in custody. They face arraignment Monday.
The young woman denied any mistreatment, telling KING5-TV, “If I had one drop of food left in my house, I would give it to my kids before I even thought about myself.”
According to court documents, Sam Labberton told detectives he could not help his wife with the baby because he worked graveyard shift. He said he believed the baby was underweight because she was fussy and “spit up all the time.”
The baby was hospitalized at age 2 months after failing to gain sufficient weight. Detectives say she ate well at the hospital and gained weight. Prosecutors say she was then placed in a foster home, where she continued to put on weight.
According to court papers, an older child, then age 2, was removed from the home in 2008 after the mother reportedly said she had been thinking of killing herself and the child.
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