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A West Virginia stepmother is facing charges that her 11-year-old stepdaughter, who was “severely underweight” and died in her care, was denied food, nutrition and medical care for years.
Shannon Robinson, 51, of Grafton, is charged with murder of a child by a parent or guardian, WDTV reports.
Authorities began investigating after emergency personnel were called to Robinson’s home on February 16, 2025, where they found the young girl unconscious on the kitchen floor.
The girl was wearing a disposable diaper and “appeared to be extremely small for her age, severely underweight and malnourished,” deputies said. according to WCHS-TV.
At the time, the girl’s stepmother, Robinson, told investigators that the 11-year-old girl had been experiencing “flu-like symptoms for about a week” and was wearing a diaper “due to persistent diarrhea.”
The girl was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
During the investigation, authorities discovered that the girl’s father isolated her from the outside world and deprived her of food as punishment. Deputies later determined the girl had not received any medical care since she began living with Robinson in 2020.
“Further investigation revealed that food deprivation was used as punishment [the victim]”, according to a police affidavit. “Witnesses said that if [the victim] If she resisted or ‘pushed back’ Ms Robinson, she would be deprived of food or provided with only minimal nutrition for an extended period of time while other family members were fed in her presence. “
Medical examiners found that the preteen girl weighed approximately 43 pounds at the time of her death, a measurement that was “significantly inconsistent with her age.”
She also had lice on her head, her skin was yellowish, her bones were protruding, and she had multiple bruises and lacerations on her limbs and torso.
According to court documents, investigators found that the girl had been ill since the summer of 2024, and her condition continued to worsen until she was unable to walk.
Witnesses also told deputies that Robinson felt she could not take the girl to a doctor because she feared she would be reported for abuse or neglect.
While court records show Robinson was the girl’s primary caregiver, her biological father was also in the home and “allowed these conditions to exist,” WCHS reported. As of Thursday, he had not yet faced charges.
Robinson is being held without bail at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.