Overview
- Bernice and Gerald Byrd pleaded guilty to first-degree child abuse resulting in death and first-degree child abuse in Baltimore City court.
- Investigators documented bare kitchen cupboards, nonperishable food locked in a bedroom closet, and parents unable to say when Zona was last fed.
- An autopsy found Zona Byrd weighed 17.5 pounds and died of malnutrition with no evidence of traumatic injury.
- A 6-year-old brother, discovered severely emaciated at about 35 pounds, was hospitalized at Johns Hopkins and has since recovered, while siblings were removed from the home.
- The plea avoids a trial that was set to begin next week, and court officials say each defendant faces up to 70 years at the June 10 sentencing.