Lincoln Police say the husband and daughter of a woman who was arrested last week after a severely malnourished 12-year-old boy was brought to a Lincoln hospital are also facing charges. LPD Public Information Manager Erika Thomas says on Tuesday 44-year-old Joseph Lowe and 20-year-old Makenzie Watkins were arrested in connection with the case.
They were booked into jail for 1st degree child abuse, 1st degree assault and false imprisonment. Investigators arrested 46-year-old Angela Lowe at her home on January 29. LPD says when the boy arrived at the hospital he was too weak to lift himself up or speak and had a core body temperature of 80 degrees.
“He weighed only 47 pounds. An average 12-year-old boy should weigh approximately 90 pounds,” Thomas says. The boy was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Omaha where he was determined to be in septic shock with pneumonia.
Additional symptoms and injuries led investigators to believe he had been neglected, starved and tortured for several months. He was not expected to live past a couple of days, but Thomas says things are looking better.
“I did just speak with the investigator, who’s going to speak to the victim again today and the victim is doing much, much better.” As of January 19, the child is now in state custody, Angela Lowe is no longer his legal guardian and cannot have contact with him.
Angela Lowe, LSO Mugshot