Couple Starved 9-Year-Old to Just 30 Pounds: Cops
00:00Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now.Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.Okay, what's going on today?My child isn't breathing, or he's having a hard time breathing.A man calls 911 for help, and now he and his living girlfriend are behind bars facing very serious felony charges and allegations of child abuse.I go through the 911 call and the condition in which medics found the child and his siblings.Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Three children are now recovering from child abuse that the prosecutor called one of the most insidious he's seen in his decades handling crimes. That's how bad it was. The victims are ages nine, six, and eight.This case begins in Elmwood Place, a small working-class village that's pretty much surrounded by the city of Cincinnati.
01:05Back on September 13th, a man named Aaron Stalling called 911 from a house on Helen Street.And what police found in that house and in a car sounds like a literal house of horrors.Here's the 911 call.911.What's location of your emergency?Um,In Ohio, 452 or not.What was the street?
01:31Helen Street.What's the first letter of that?Ah, H.Okay, Helen.Yeah, Helen.Okay, and is that a house or an apartment?It's a house.What's your name?
01:48Aaron.And a good phone number for you?513.9-4-339.Okay, what's going on today?My child isn't breathing, or he's having a hard time breathing.How old is he?He's nine.
02:09Okay, is he breathing or is he not breathing?He's breathing heavily.He seems to be really weak.Now, that's just the first part of the 911 call.The call-taker continues to ask questions about thisboy's condition to relay it to EMTs and paramedics.Okay, all right, I have him dispatch for you.I just have a couple questions to ask.
02:30Is he able to speak in full sentences?No, he's not speaking at all.Okay.Does he have to sit up to breathe?No, he can't, he's not, he's not responding.Okay.Does he have a rescue inhaler?No.
02:51Okay, does he have any kind of,illness related with having trouble brighter?No, I don't think, no, I don't think so.Okay.Is he prescribed oxygen at all?No.Okay, and that's him in the background?Yes.
03:10Okay.How long has this been going on?Um, I don't know.Maybe about, um, five minutes I heard him, his breathing was coming on.breathing was kind of labored, so I went to check on him, and he just seemed out of itand wasn't really responding.Okay, but his chest is rising and falling.He is breathing.
03:38He's just having to breathe.I don't know.I don't know.He, it's like he's not breathing.I don't know.Okay.Can you tell me if his chest is rising and falling?No, I look, hold on. Hold on. What? Is his chest rising or falling?
04:01I just need to make him breathing. Okay, so he is still. Yes, his chest is rising and falling, yes.Think you've seen it all. Think again. 50 ways to catch a killer brings you real cases where detectives had to flip the script to take down cold-blooded killers hosted by 50.cent, this isn't your typical crime show. It's a high stakes twist-filled ride into the minds ofinvestigators who think outside the badge to break the case. From unforgettable setups to shockingreveals, every episode proves when killers think they got away with murder, think again. Watch50 ways to catch a killer with 50 cent exclusively on Fox Nation. Listening to this 911 call,the call taker doesn't really know what the officers will find other than a very, very sick child.Okay, we do have him on the way for you, okay?
04:53Okay.If anything changes at all, if his breathing gets any more labor, give us a call back, okay?Do you want any medical instructions before they arrive?Yeah, if there anything I can do.Just don't give him anything to eat or drink.Make sure he tries to stay calm, try to get him in whatever position is more comfortable for him to breathe.He might be more comfortable sitting up.make sure he doesn't try to talk and exert himself.
05:23If he takes any medication, just gather it and give us a call back if anything changes, okay?Okay.All right, they're on the way for you, okay?Now, just listening to this, any number of things could have been causing the labored breathing,the flu, an asthma attack, or even pneumonia.We just don't know if it was any of those things.But we do know that prosecutors and detectives are now accusing Aaron Stallingand his living girlfriend, April Hall.
05:49of abusing that nine-year-old boy and his younger siblings.An affidavit states medical staff determined the nine-year-old was critically ill with a coretemperature below 80 degrees, severe malnourishment, and a weight of 30 pounds.The child's custodian, Angel Holland, reported having custody of him since 2020.She stated that he complained of a stomachache three days earlier, and she admitted nomedical care was sought after a recent fall. She stated she was preoccupied with another child the day ofthe incident. The affidavit also details what the detective said Aaron Stalling told them. Also present wasAaron Stalling, Ms. Holland's live-in boyfriend, who admitted hearing the boy having trouble breathing.
06:37When told of the boy's condition, he responded, quote, we feed him. We feed him. Well, of course youshould be feeding him, but he should weigh a lot more than 30 pounds at 9 years old. The detectivesaid doctors confirmed that that 9-year-old boy was severely malnourished, showed signs of physicalabuse, and was still in critical condition three days later. The younger siblings, ages 6 and 8,were also malnourished and were hospitalized, according to the detective. The affidavit continues.A search warrant executed at 56-26-Helen Street resulted in the recovery of multiple items ofevidentiary value, including bungee cords, a belt, and soiled towels observed inside a vehicleregistered to Ms. Holland. Angel Holland and Aaron Stalling were booked into the Hamilton County
07:27Justice Center on three counts of felonious assault and three counts of child endangering.Those are serious, serious felony charges. But there are still a lot of questions surrounding thiscase. Why did Angel Holland have custody of these children? She's identified as theircustodian, not their mother, and were they not enrolled in school? Did the school not notice howlittle these children weighed? We don't know. So to discuss this awful, awful case, I would like tobring in Dr. Daniel Bober. He is a forensic psychiatrist and deals with a lot of terrible,terrible cases. This is one of those terrible, terrible cases. Dr. Bober, you know, I'm readingthrough the affidavit about this case, and I'm stunned by this. You know,
08:12the dad calls 911 and says, you know, my son is not, you know, he's having trouble breathing.You can kind of hear the child in the background.And the child's body temperature was, they said the core body temperature of this child was 80 degrees.That's insane.Like you're, I think, almost close to dead at that point.Am I right?Yeah.I mean, listen, Anginette, you know, there are over half a million victims of child maltreatment in the United States.
08:42which includes abuse and neglect, and the most common type of child maltreatment is neglect,which is failing to provide for your child's basic needs, physical, emotional, educational,and medical. So whereas abuse is an act of commission, neglect is an act of omission.It means doing something versus not doing something. And this is probably one of the most horrificcases I've ever seen. This is absolutely horrific. I mean, he has a father, this child,and dad calls 911.He's allegedly, it sounds like, according to the affidavit,it seems like they're living together.
09:20And that Angel Holland, the girlfriend of the father,is the custodian.She's got custody and care of this child.And she's not doing anything that she should be doingaccording to the allegations here.I'm just stunned.And it says that, you know,the child's custodian, Angel Holland,
09:40and reported having custody of him since 2020.She stated that he complained of a stomach ache three days earlierand admitted no medical care was sought after a recent fall.And she stated she was preoccupied with another child the day of the incident.And also present was Aaron Stalling, the live-in boyfriend,who admitted hearing that he was having trouble breathing.And when told of R.H's condition, he responded, we feed him.We feed him.
10:09Well, yeah, like how much, though, and what are you feeding him? Obviously, there was something seriously wrong with this child. And you don't just go from like, you know, normal average to, you know, okay to 80 degree core body temperature and having trouble breathing. That doesn't just happen within a minute or two.No, absolutely not. This is something that clearly was getting worse over time. I would love to know more about these.caregivers and i use the word caregiver loosely i mean these are probably people that have pre-existingpsychological dysfunction they probably themselves came from a sick family system uh it probably asyou said escalated gradually uh they probably developed some sort of cognitive distortionsabout the kids uh that they were there to have to obey them uh that it wasn't so badminimization denial uh they were objects to be controlledAnd, of course, with a lack of external support and oversight, these things occur in isolation.
11:16And so there's a lot of secrecy, a lot of deception.And it's very difficult for the situation and for those kids to be helped because they were hidden away like a secret.And this child weighed 30 pounds.I mean, that's insane.I mean, that's like skeletal as far as I can see.And this was a nine-year-old.I mean, as far as we know, the nine-year-old is still alive and is receiving treatment at the children's hospital. Thank God. I can imagine this is probably IV treatment, IV fluids to stay hydrated. You've got to make sure his kidneys aren't shutting down and things of that nature.Right. And not do it too quickly, which you could also overwhelm his heart as well. But, you know, severe abuse thrives in isolation and silence. That's why community vigilance is.
12:08so important, asking questions. There are so many of these cases where if the public had spokenup, and I'm not saying in every case, the public knows what's going on. But this is why people needto be asking questions. This is why when you're on a New York City subway, you see, if you seesomething, say something. We're so focused on ourselves and what's happening on our phones that a lotof times we're not looking around in our environment and questioning the things that we see aroundus. You know, were there neighbors that saw these kids in the backyard? Was there a school thatdidn't notice that they weren't there? You know, what was happening? Why weren't there morequestions asked? I mean, there's really no one else to blame at this point, but these quote
12:49unquote caregivers. But I think as a community, we really need to be more vigilant and ask morequestions. Yeah, and my big question is, you know, at this time, you know, this happened September 13th,that the 911 call was placed, this child should have been in school by that point in timein that area. So was the child even enrolled in school or were they calling the child in absentto school? I don't know. And there were other children in the house. I mean, right now,these people are facing a charge of felonious assault and other, you know, three counts of feloniousassault because there were other kids in the house. And then also they're facing charges ofchild endangering. These are all felonies. I mean, I'm worried that this kid, that this child
13:38even makes it, but it sounds like the child, thank God, will make it because we haven't heardanything more about his condition. There's also something in here about what they foundDr. Bober in, in this Angel Hollins, in her trunk of her car. And it sounds like maybe theytalked to the children, interviewed the child, the children. I mean, hopefully this child,was able to regain consciousness, and they go and look at her car, and they said that they foundsome really kind of creepy items, bungee cords, a belt, and soiled towels. So I'm assuming theymentioned these because this is something the children have told them about, where the childhas told them about, and maybe this is stuff that was used to inflict pain. I'm not really sure,
14:30but I don't think they would have mentioned those things.They said they had evidentiary value.They wouldn't have mentioned those items unless they were pertinent or relevant to the investigation.Yeah, it's deeply troubling and much more chilling when you think about that because that really, to me, speaks of a more sadistic form of discipline, a means of gratification and psychological control, which really is something that comes from a different place.I mean, this was just not a case of simple neglect.This was a case of absolute brutality and savagery, and that is deeply disturbing.Yeah, the prosecutor during the court proceeding for just an arraignment, you know, setting bond and things of that nature said this was like one of the worst things he'd seen.So if you have a prosecutor saying that, that tells you a lot.
15:23Absolutely.And I've been involved actually in several child custody cases.And they're actually the types of cases that I just will never take on because they are so disturbing.They really leave a lasting impression on you more so than other types of cases because these kids are totally innocent.They're totally vulnerable.And all they need is someone to protect them and care for them.And this is the ultimate betrayal to do something like this to your children.God, it's just so heartbreaking.
15:53I just hope this little boy's condition is improving.and I'm going to try to get some more information about that.But a core body temperature of 80 degrees, I just want to circle back to that.How close to, I mean, how can the body, children are resilient, of course.The human body is very resilient.But how does the human body get to that point and then come back from that?I mean, because that 80 degrees, normal temperature is 98.6 or somewhere around there.So it's interesting. I've actually treated, you know, it's interesting. I've actually treated
16:32adults and teenagers with severe eating disorders and also, you know, malnutrition falls intothis type of category. And if it happens over time, the body is amazingly adaptive and canadapt to severe malnutrition by changing its metabolic functions. And so it's really a questionof it happening abruptly versus happening over time and chronically. And chronically, there can becertain adaptations, but certainly it didn't seem like this child was very far from death witha core body temperature like that. I'm just glad that the dad actually called 911, but I wish he wouldhave called 911 a lot sooner or taken him to a pediatrician. I'm kind of wondering now,did you even have a pediatrician?
17:22Right. And you know what's interesting is you wonder what was going through his mindbecause he had to know by calling 911 that everything was going to come out and that everythingwas going to be discovered. So at that point, he had to make a decision. Do I act or do I not act?And obviously he did a lot of things wrong up until that point. But you have to wonder what histhought processes was. Sorry, you have to wonder what his thought process was when he made that phone callknowing that once the authorities and EMS arrived, that they were going to see everythingthat had been going on there.No doubt, no doubt.
17:57It's disturbing.It's awful.And the grand jury is going to hear the case and probably indict this pretty quickly.That's what they do in that county there in Hamilton County, Ohio.Dr. Daniel Bober, I appreciate your time.We'll keep an eye on it.Thank you so much.Thank you, Anjanet.
18:15So let's take a listen to that 911 call.one last time okay what's going on today um my my child isn't breathing or he he's having a hard timebreathing how old is he uh he's nine okay is he breathing or is he not breathinguh he's breathing heavily he seems to be really weak okay all right i have him dispatch for youi just have a couple questions to ask later is he able to speak in full sentencesNo, he's not speaking at all.Okay. Does he have to sit up to breathe?No, he can't, he's not, he's not responding.
18:58Okay, does he have a rescue inhaler?No.Okay, did he have any kind of illness related with having trouble byer?No, I don't think, no, I don't think so.Okay.All right, if he prescribed oxygen at all?at all?No.
19:19Okay.And that's him in the background?Yes.Okay.How long has this been going on?Um, I don't know.Maybe about, um, five minutes I heard him, his breathing was kind of labored.Um, so I had went to check on him and he, he just seemed out of it and wasn't
19:47respondent okay but his chest is rising and falling he is breathing he's justhow I don't I don't know I don't know he it's like he's not breathing I don'tknow okay can you tell me if his chest is rising and falling no I lookhold on hold on is his chest rising or fallingI just need to make him breathing.Okay, so he is still.Yes, his chest is rising and breathing, yes.Okay, we do have him on the way for you, okay?
20:28Okay.If anything changes at all, if his breathing gets any more labor, give us a call back, okay?Do you want any medical instructions before they arrive?Yeah, if there anything I can do.Just don't give him anything to eat or drink. Make sure he tries to stay calm, try to get him in whatever position is more comfortable for him to breathe. He might be more comfortable sitting up. Make sure he doesn't try to talk and exert himself. If he takes any medication, just gather it and give us a call back. If anything changes, okay?Both Angel Holland and Aaron Stalling are being held on $600,000 cash bail, so they can't go anywhere until they post that.the grand jury is expected to hear the case against them this week and will determine whether or notthey will be indicted on those charges and whether any other additional charges will be filed.
21:20We're working to learn the condition of those children right now, but no doubt children's servicesis involved. So stay tuned. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Annette Levy.Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.Thank you.
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