YAKIMA — A Yakima woman has pleaded guilty to abusing her 8-year-old twins who were emaciated when relatives rescued them from the home.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports 28-year-old Kai Martinez pleaded guilty to two counts each of third-degree child assault and first-degree criminal mistreatment. She admitted to withholding food and other basic needs.
Under the plea agreement, Martinez faces a 10-year prison sentence. Her lawyer, Scott Bruns, wants her sent to a prison-based drug treatment program, which could reduce her time in prison.
Court papers say the girls told police they’d been abused, starved and locked in a bedroom before cousins rescued them Feb. 6.
Police say the twins weighed less than 44 pounds each when they were rescued. According to a police affidavit, a doctor said the girls should have weighed twice as much as they did.
The girls are now being cared for by an aunt.
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