Healthcare company owner pleads guilty for her role in starvation death of 7-year-old found weighing 7 pounds
05/19/2026 7:00 pm PDT
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) -- A healthcare company owner has pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child, third-degree felony murder, Medicaid provider fraud, and child neglect in connection with the starvation death of a child in 2023.
On Christmas Day 2023, police responded to a home after receiving a report of a child in respiratory distress. The child, 7-year-old Deonte Atwell, was pronounced dead at the hospital. An investigation found that he required round-the-clock care and used feeding and breathing tubes. Atwell had been diagnosed with thoracic spina bifida and hydrocephalus. When found, he was so malnourished that his bones were protruding through his skin. He weighed 7 pounds and appeared to have been dead for some time.
An investigation of the home found 264 unopened bottles of his formula. Atwell’s mother, brother, and grandfather were charged in the boy’s death, along with Mirlande Moltimer Ameda, who owned a home healthcare company that provided his care. Medicaid was billed for services to the child that were never provided.
NBC Miami reports that Moltimer Ameda, 49, pleaded guilty on May 14 to the charges. She was sentenced to 20 months in state prison, 16 months in federal prison, and seven years of probation. In addition, she is required to pay $25,402 in restitution and must cooperate with prosecutors during the trials of others charged in Atwell’s death.
According to NBC Miami, Atwell’s mother has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated child abuse, and two counts of neglect of a child.
Atwell’s brother, Tyreck Irvin, was arrested on the same charges, and his grandfather, James Graham, was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, neglect of a child, and failure to report child abuse.
Also charged in connection with Atwell’s death is nurse Cassandre Lassegue. NBC Miami reports she was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, felony murder in third degree, aggravated child abuse, and Medicaid fraud.
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