Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Evil mom starves son, masterminds 17 surgeries so SHE gets attention

Episode Date: July 3, 2020

Danita Tutt is behind bars, convicted of starving her son to the point of death. Prosecutors said she lied to doctors about his medical history, to gain attention and money. Now Tutt is proclaiming her innocence to “A & E’s ‘Accused: Guilty or Innocent?’ titled Attempted Murder or Protective Mother.”Joining Nancy Grace today: James Shelnutt – 27-year Atlanta Metro Major Case detective, SWAT Officer Caryn Stark – NYC Psychologist  Karen Smith – Los Angeles, Ca. Forensics Expert, Lecturer at the University of Florida, Host of “Shattered Souls” podcast. Dr. Kris Sperry – Former Chief Medical Examiner, State of Georgia Levi Page – Investigative Reporter, CrimeOnline Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. A mother who is convicted of trying to murder her son, making him sicker and sicker by the day, so she can get attention even ordering his casket while her little boy is still alive, has now gone in front of the camera, insisting she's just misunderstood. She is actually getting airtime. What is the truth of Danita Tutte? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What really happened to Colby? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to this 911 call.

Police, emergency, how can I help you? My name is Connie. We have a child with severe malnutrition. According to mother, he doesn't reject anything. She and her husband came back last night about 10 o'clock and picked him up and took him home. Okay, she will not return any of our calls today. What's the mother's name? Anita. B-A-N-I-T-A. I feel sick just hearing about this child starved near death when the 911 call was made. Joining me, an all-star panel, James Shelnut, 27 years, Metro Major case, now lawyer at ShelnutLawFirm.com.

Karen Stark, renowned psychologist. Joining us from New York at KarenStark.com, Karen Smith. Joining us from L.A., forensics expert, lecturer, University of Florida, and star of her own new podcast, Shattered Souls, Dr. Chris Sperry, the former chief medical examiner for the entire state of Georgia. But right now to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. Tell me, first of all, Levi, about all the ailments this little boy Colby allegedly endured. So, Nancy, Colby was born premature.

He also suffered considerable health problems like heart disease, kidney malfunction, and gastrointestinal problems. And in 13 years, by the time he was 13 years old, he had had about 17 surgeries. Hold on, Levi. I want Dr. Sperry to hear what you just said. What were his ailments again? He had heart problems, heart disease, kidney malfunction, gastrointestinal problems, and over the course of 13 years had 17 surgeries. 17 serious surgeries. I want you to take a listen to this. Colby Tut was a premature baby with considerable health problems.

There was heart disease, kidney malfunction, and gastrointestinal problems. When he was finally allowed to come home, a heart machine came to. Tut was on constant medication and needed drugs to help him digest food and go to the toilet. In the span of 13 years, Tut endured 17 operations, and in August of 2015, his digestion issues got worse. The Tututt family says doctors recommended hospice. And here begins a story of To Tell the Truth. In May of 2016, Connie Kohler, owner of Ronald McDonald House, reported to Anita Tutt saying the mom was deliberately withholding food and water from her son. She said the facility had been told not to feed Colby Tutt as he could not digest anything. But Kohler says they

discovered he was able to consume solid foods and liquids. The teen rallied and then the parents showed up to take Colby Tut home. I hate to hear that. Shows up to take the little boy home when he was clearly being starved to death. Joining me, Dr. Chris Sperry, former chief medical examiner for the entire state of Georgia. I don't know, Dr. Sperry, how a mom can deliberately withhold food and water from her own child and watch them die. How can you tell, Dr. Sperry, when you're looking at a body, did the child die of all these alleged ailments or did they just die from starvation? Well, first of all, the child, the body has to show the signs of starvation. I mean, be severely underweight for age and a tremendous loss of the fat underneath the skin. So the skin is very thin and wrinkly and no fat

anywhere else in the body. So that at least tells the doctor that the child is malnourished, that it's for some reason or another. But the second and most crucial part is there has to be a reason for the malnourishment to start with. And if there is no medical or pathologic finding, there's no disease or combination of diseases that can be found that will explain the malnutrition, then it becomes very, well, very serious. Then the question really spins back around to the care given by the parents or the lack of care. Dr. Sperry, a question.

Why does your stomach distend or poke out like it's full when you're starving? Because actually your liver will enlarge in children or adults. If they are starving and not getting enough protein especially, then the liver itself enlarges and the cells fill with fat. So the liver is very, very fatty, but it enlarges because the cells are filled with fat and it gives this appearance of a big pooched out belly at which can you know to someone who doesn't know what they're looking at it could mimic just a chubby child but the the arms and the legs though are very thin the muscles of the face are wasted so it's you know it misleading. That's really what it is. To James Shelnut joining me, 27 years, Metro, major case, including SWAT, now a lawyer.

James, I've seen this. I mean, a good example would be O.J. Simpson, Orenthal James Simpson, who told his lie so many times. He was so convincing, he would get angry when people didn't believe him. Right? He actually would get mad when people would say, that doesn't make any sense. You're lying. So that's what I'm thinking about this woman, this mother, Danita Tutte, who now has taken to the airwaves in a documentary of sorts, insisting she's innocent. Hello? A jury convicted her. So to you, James Sheldon, have you in all your years as a cop,

Metro major case, and now as a lawyer, have you seen those people? It's like, hey, in their mind, I've covered all the holes, all my bases. How dare they not believe me? And they actually get mad. Yeah, I think that that happens. And I think that, you know, it relates back. And we've got experts on this panel that will qualify the name on this. But it relates back to a serious mental illness.

Hey, you got your education on the mean streets. Go ahead. I'll go to Karen Stark in a moment. But, I mean, haven't you seen those people where they actually get angry when you don't buy their BS? Yeah, many times. Many, many times. And, you know, I only had over the years of law enforcement, you know, one case of much housing by proxy. And, you know, these cases are just very rare cases. And I'm not sure how rare they are as compared to how hard they are

to detect. You know, if you look at a lot of these signs, the warning signs that are published about Munchausen by proxy, some of those signs actually overlap with what a concerned parent would do. But in this case, you had some red flags go up that said, hey, this is beyond what a concerned parent would do. And I think that that was the key to possibly. You mean starve your child? You think that's a little bit beyond what a concerned parent would do? Exactly.

You know what? You know, now I'm going to have a psych done on you because I am very underwhelmed at claims of munchausen by proxy. Because to be insane in our country, as the old McNaughton rule brought over from Great Britain in our common law, you have to know right from wrong. You have to not know right from wrong at the time of the incident to be legally insane. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about a seemingly devoted mother, Danita Tut,

who is convicted of trying to kill her child, starving him, making him undergo surgery after surgery after 17 surgeries in all. She's convicted. Now she's taken to the airwaves, insisting she's just misunderstood. B.S. And I'm calling her on it. And I got to tell you, the fact that she's getting airtime is very, very disturbing with her cockamamie story. To Karen Stark, James Shelnut brought up

Munchausen by proxy, which is when you make somebody sick, typically a mom making a child sick, so you can get attention. But Karen Karen Stark just boil it down for me if the mom didn't know what she was doing was wrong then she wouldn't try to cover it up by trying to conceal it that tells me she knows darn well what she's doing is not only wrong but it's just pure evil starving this little boy to where he can barely hold up anymore. He's so starved and getting his belly cut open once after the next, after the next, after the next for her crazy stories about why he's ill. She knew darn well what she was doing was wrong. Karen? I agree with you, Nancy. I really do that she knew what was wrong. The thing is, what the law has to say versus what psychology has to say, too, it doesn't mean that she didn't have Munchausen by proxy. who was guilty, in my opinion. She was guilty because she did know.

But this is a particular disease, a particular type of craziness, let's say. She's not crazy. Will you quit saying that? But she is. But she's not saying the way that you and I would be saying. She does have something wrong with her. Karen Stark. Karen Stark. Yeah, there's something wrong with her. Karen Stark. Karen Stark.

Yeah, there's something wrong with her. Yeah, she's evil. That's what's wrong with her. Look at this face. She is evil. It's just crying out. I'm innocent. She is evil.

We don't disagree. We don't disagree. Are you actually saying she fits the legal definition of insane? Not according to the law. No. Okay, okay. I do believe there's a difference between right and wrong. Karen Stark, why do you think she was doing this to her son, her little baby?

Because I definitely think she was doing it because she needed to get the attention. She needed the focus to be on her. That's what her problem is. That's what her problem is. That's what her problem is. She was actually found guilty of lying about her son's medical condition and subjecting him to unneeded surgeries, as well as starving him, intentionally depriving him of food and water. Take a listen to our friends at Fox 4 Fort Worth.

Expect standing room only on Sunday for WrestleMania, but one seat is saved for one very special young boy. Colby Tutte was too sick to make it last year. He's still not well, but a lot of people have come together to make sure his dream comes true. Is he down? No, please don't get up. I cannot believe he just beat me. dream comes true 13 year old Colby Tutt loves wrestling he plays the video games and has action figures of all his favorites any of the wrestling stars

Colby admires would admit he's every bit as tough and as strong a fighter Colby has been chronically ill since he was born when he weighed just one pound three ounces. This week he got the surprise of his life. Wrestler Eric Rowan paid a surprise visit to his home in Cleveland. You doing good? Oh my god. You a big wrestling fan? Yes I am. Yeah? And where will any big wrestling fan be this weekend? WrestleMania has arranged for a limo to pick up Colby and his family and take him to AT&T Stadium on Sunday. I'm going to be excited. You know what that made me think of?

To you, Karen Stark, my son John David, some of his prized possessions are action figures. He goes insane if I call him dolls. But that aside, action figures. He's so sweet. He really is. He's a gentle

giant. I like to say he's a lover, not a hater. He's almost as big as his father now. And he was 6'4". He's only 12. Compared to you, Nancy, you're tiny like I am. I still tell him I'm the tallest one in the house as long as I have the code to Amazon.

But he has, Karen, he has these action figures, not dolls, of all the Star Trek. Wait, no, no, not Star Trek, Star Wars. When he was little, remember, Karen, he called it Star World. He thought that's what we were, anyway, he has one of all the players, everybody, Vader, you know, Skywalker, Wookiee, everybody, and he keeps him in a special spot i'm just thinking about this little boy getting starved to death it's just skin and bones and the mom is convicted at trial and now she's taking to the areas still trying to suck every bit of attention out of her son's debilitated body. And that just shows you, Nancy, how much she needs to get attention instead of saying,

okay, I was found guilty. Let me get through this and over this. She's got to continue and keep saying, pay attention to me. I didn't do anything wrong. I don't understand what happened. We don't really believe that. I don't believe that. You know, let me go out to Karen Smith joining me. Joining me from LA today. She is a forensics expert and now hosts our own podcast, Shattered Souls. How do you go about gathering the evidence to prove a case like this? Well, Nancy, the first thing that you do is you go into the home and you open every kitchen cabinet, you open the refrigerator and you document the food stuff that are there. You look at the bedroom, you look at the sleeping quarters, you look at the bathroom, you find out if there's a special toilet seat on the toilet, all of those little

things. But most importantly, as a forensic specialist, my job would be to look at the medications that this little boy was prescribed, look at the prescription date, and count every single pill in every single container to make sure that he is not being over-medicated or under-medicated. So all of that would be my responsibility and just making sure that this mother is doing what she was supposed to do, which obviously she was not. I want you to take a listen to the lead defense attorney, Terry Moore, speaking to A&E. Listen. The allegations are in an indictment, which lays out everything the prosecution says she did that's a crime. The first two counts are saying that she fabricated symptoms to get doctors to perform surgeries that didn't need to be performed,

and that that injured Colby. The third count, they say she starved Colby. When she read that in my office, she completely fell apart. And then count four is attempted murder. They say that she actually, by doing this, attempted to murder her son. Mm-hmm. That's right. And she did. And that's what the jury said. And now she's propped up crying on air claiming the jury got it all wrong.

We are talking about Mom Danita Tutte and a jury conviction that she did everything she could to murder her own son. And then she's crying. Well, I would like to point out, I think she's crying. Not because she did it. But because she got caught. Take a listen to our friends at Fox 4 Fort Worth. Because of his health, some days

are better than others for Colby. But he's determined to make it to WrestleMania this time. His family had tickets for Colby last year, but he was in the hospital and couldn't make it. been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years.

He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years.

He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years.

He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for three years. He's been in the hospital for of their lives. We decided to put him on hospice and let him do treatments at home so that we and my other son and my husband could be a family. Colby is the most sweetest, loving child. He cares about everyone. He loves everyone. He looks for all the good in people. Friends and others who heard about Colby on social media and his wish to go to WrestleMania came together to make this young boy very happy. I hadn't seen that smile in so long. I mean, you just, you take for granted the little things. I'm sorry. But that smile is just priceless, and that will forever be embedded in my mind.

Forever embedded in your mind. You already bought his casket, woman. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Did you hear this, Karen Stark? You know, Karen Stark, I usually agree with what you say, but you got it all wrong. This woman's not crazy. Did you hear what she said? There's no magic medicine to cure her son that she's starving dead. So they bring him home so he can die with them as a family. The boy is okay. Would you play for me? Would you play for me? Cut number three. Here's an affidavit by

Connie. We determined that this child both desired and could tolerate solid foods and fluids and had minimal reports of pain. His mother refused to have any food or drink brought to Colby stating his eating would only prolong the inevitable. That's what she told me. Connie told me that eating and drinking is prolonging him. I didn't know what prolonging the inevitable was until she said it to me. Prior to moving Colby to our suite, mother and father purchased a casket, headstone, and made all the funeral arrangements for Colby. We would have never known what to do.

All the stuff that she said I did was all direction from her. She would tell us, I'm in control. We advise the parents what to do, but we have the final say. Long story short, she told them not to feed or give her child, her little boy, water because it would prolong the inevitable. She wanted him dead. And let me just round up CPS Child Protective Services on this. The child had been taken away, but then they gave the child back.

What? To die? Thanks, CPS, for nothing. So, Karen Stark, can you actually look me in the face and tell me that this woman is crazy? She had no idea what she was doing. O-O-H-E-L-L, no. She knew exactly what she was doing, Karen Stark. I can't believe you even say that. I didn't say she didn't know what she was doing. Yes, you did. You said she was crazy.

I said she's crazy. That doesn't mean she doesn't know what she's doing. I really do believe, Nancy, that those two things can coexist. She knew what she was doing, but what normal person would do that? Okay, being normal, being abnormal does not equal crazy, all right? That, you can look at somebody walking down the street and say, oh, they've got a bleached orange mohawk and their face is covered with tattoos. That's abnormal. Well, maybe abnormal to you. It's not abnormal to me.

It's just a different kind of person. So, you know, you're wrong. But diagnostically, this is more severe. This is more... This is actually more criminal. Straight back out to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. What more can you tell me regarding the evidence that came out at trial? So, Nancy, a hospice administrator said that they took Colby for a 30-hour observation away from his mother

and that he ate a bean and cheese burrito, a slice of cake, and had approximately 20 ounces of sweet tea and tolerated it all very well. That's when they became suspicious of his mother, who said that he could not tolerate food, that it would only prolong what would be his death. And, Nancy, he weighed 50 pounds, and the average weight for a healthy, young boy his age, 13 years old, is 75 to 175 pounds. So, Nancy, he was being starved to death when he could eat normally all along. Dr. Sperry, listen, I know I've said this to you many a time. You've got to help me. You've got to help me. You have got to help me. Because apparently people don't, the jury did,

but people don't get what this woman was doing to her child. Dr. Sperry, 50 pounds? This little boy at age 13 weighed 50 pounds? Oh, that's terrible. The child was terribly underweight. And as you're right. You don't sound like you're upset at all. You just said, oh, that's terrible.

The kid is starving minute by minute and mom standing by and watching it happen. She's making it happen. She's making it happen. And everything, the caregivers, every doctor, social worker, everyone that saw her with the child depended completely on her for the history. That he wasn't eating, he'd throw up, whatever she would say say they believed her and it really only until the child was by himself and was given food and and drink which he consumed just fine that is when her lies became it became obvious otherwise they depended totally on her for the history guys with me is dr. Chris Sperry, who is the former chief medical examiner for the state of Georgia.

I've put him on the stand many, many times, and we have worked untold hours on cases so I could understand what he was going to tell the jury, so I could understand what he was going to tell the jury, so I could understand his autopsy report. And I don't know if you remember, Chris, but I do, literally going through an autopsy report, which are usually many, many pages long, and it's all in doctor jargon, literally going through the autopsy report for every homicide case, word by word,

and I would say, what does that mean? What does this mean? What does this mean? So when I spoke to the jury, I could put it in regular people talk so they would understand Sperry when he got up on the stand. Dr. Sperry, two things I'm concerned, I'm interested in, what a child actually goes through when they're starving, the stages, starvation, this little boy endured. And I've also, I think you'll agree with me, Shelnut, James Shelnut with me, Metro major case

now lawyer, I really believe that these doctors performed all these surgeries on this little boy, 17 surgeries, at the behest of the mother based on her fake claims of ailments. I think every time that little boy was cut open is another felony aggravated assault charge that needs to be leveled against this mother who is now sucking up airtime with her story about how she has been mistreated. We are talking about Danita Tutte, who methodically starved her child, claiming he was ill so she could get attention. That's what we're talking about. Back to Dr. Chris Sperry, the little boy only weighing 50 pounds, 5'0", at age 13.

So debilitated, he could hardly even lift up. What are the stages of starvation? What did this child go through at the hands of his own mother? Well, starvation is very excruciating. It's very painful because the drive, the hunger drive is very, very, very strong in people. If they're not getting anything to eat or just barely enough to eat, they have tremendous abdominal pains. The mind is focused solely on eating. This is very intense and very strong, but there comes a time where the person basically gets used to it, especially small children, because they don't know any better and they don't understand. They feel really bad, but that eases off somewhat. It's paradoxical that children, especially who are tremendously

starved, don't really complain very much if they're old enough to complain. But you could look at them. I mean, I use the man on the street test. If you were to take a child like this and just show pictures to someone you pulled off the street and say, what would you do with this child? And the answer should be, he needs to see a doctor right now. He needs to go to the doctor because it's obvious to someone else. The child may not really complain very much. In fact, usually does not because they are depending, the child is depending on his or her mother, especially to provide them with nutrition. And the child doesn't know any better one way or the other. But it could be the excruciating pain is what occurs initially,

but that eases off when the child really gets used to it. It's terrible to say, but they adapt to it because they don't know any better. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know, Dr. Sperry, a little known fact. Jackie, I don't know if I told you this. You know, I have twins, John, Dave, and Lucy. They're 12. They're almost 13.

Lucy has recently declared herself a vegetarian. First she said vegan until she found out what that meant. Now she's, you know, a vegetarian. And can I tell you the backbends I do to try to keep her healthy? She's skinny as a rail, as it is. But, I mean, the dishes, the this, the that, the tofu, the jackfruit, the blah, the blah. I mean, anything to get my little baby to eat, to keep her healthy. Just imagine I don't have any trouble with John David eating. I mean, I found a stash of little Halloween candy behind a curtain.

I got rid of it. But I mean, there's got to be something wrong with two-year-old Kit Kats, but apparently not to him. So it's just so hard for me to take in what this mom did. Take a listen to this. This is not a child abuse case where a kid has a broken bone. He's been in a hospital setting under nursing and doctor care. So what are they going to accuse her of? I mean, if it's malnutrition, well, it's on your watch. He's in the hospital. Are you starving him?

How are you accusing the mom of malnutrition? He's in your facility. And if you'll remember, counts one and two, she made doctors perform unnecessary surgeries by giving false and fictitious information. Really? What? What could the mama say that could cause a doctor to cut on a child? And God forbid, if you question a doctor or things don't go exactly as predicted, they're going to turn the table on you. This is a recipe of how an innocent great mama finds herself a criminal defendant. Okay, and you, of course,

were hearing from the defense attorney there trying to blame doctors and hospitals for this woman starving her child. Well, isn't it true to you, Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, that the doctors got so suspicious of the mother, they took the baby, the child, the boy away and fed him food. And what did you tell me he ate? A taco grande or something? What was it he ate on his own? A bean and cheese burrito, cake, 20 ounces of sweet tea. And that's not all, Nancy. When he was removed from his mother's custody, when she was charged criminally, he started eating normally by mouth. He quickly gained 10 pounds.

He had his central line and colostomy bag removed and started immediately getting healthier. A colostomy bag. This mother went along with her son. A colostomy bag. This mother went along with her son getting a colostomy bag. First of all, Dr. Sperry, what is a colostomy bag? And you heard this lead defense attorney whining. What could a mother say to make a doctor perform a surgery? Well, I can tell you this much. Do you remember, Dr. Sperry, I think I told you about it, when John David was about three, he was at a birthday party,

and it was on a professional-grade basketball court, and he tripped, and I saw it happen. I couldn't run fast enough to get to him. He tripped, went midair, airborne, and he saw it happen. I couldn't run fast enough to get to him. He went midair, airborne, and he hit his head. He was in the hospital for days while they tried to figure out the damage that had been done to him. He was concussed in a bad way. So I kept saying, well, I want to know if this has affected his brain. I want to know this. I want to know that. They did all kind of tests on him to find out what exactly was happening.

But give me an idea, Dr. Sperry, of what a mother could say as the puppeteer to pull the strings of the doctor. Well, the mother would describe, say, very graphically that everything I give him to eat, he throws up. He vomits constantly. It doesn't matter what I give him. He throws it up or even add into that diarrhea. Every time I feed him something, he just has, in minutes, he has horrible diarrhea that will last on and on and on. Meanwhile, while the mother is giving this history, which is all lies, the doctor think that there's something wrong with the structures of the intestines, of the valves inside, you know, between, say, the stomach and the small

intestine, or there's something wrong with a part of the large bowel of the colon. And, you know, the more the mother describes, and the doctor is looking at this underweight child, she's describing things that might be blockages of the intestine, say, or abnormal formation of parts of the intestine. And that's what would cause the doctor to say, well, we need to do some surgery here. I need to look around and see what's going on. When in truth, there's nothing. But see, remember, it's the mother giving the history to the doctor. Meanwhile, the doctor is looking with his own eyes, her own eyes at a terribly underweight child. Right.

So there's something wrong. So long story short, she's playing the doctors like a fiddle, and now the defense is trying to blame the doctors. To you, James Shelnut, 27 years, Metro Major case, now lawyer, I would charge that mother with every time there was an unneeded surgery because at her behest, because of what she told the doctors, what's in all the medical reports, that's why they did the surgery. Because why not believe the mother for Pete's sake?

Every time that child was cut open and during a colostomy bag, which is my understanding where you poop into a bag that comes through a tube outside. You have a permanent hole in your stomach, and you poop into a bag. Isn't that what a colostomy bag is? Okay, so I would charge her with every single one of those as a felony aggravated assault. Oh, great. You know, this is the type of case that you look at whether you're a prosecutor or investigator in this case.

If you're involved in the prosecution of this matter, it raises your blood pressure. No matter how hard you try to stay objective about this, this is a type of case that makes you mad and you have no mercy about this case you will pull justice for this child and you take that extra

time to investigate every single fact and bring every single charge possible and hold this woman fully accountable for the torture of this child. Hospice workers reported that the mother, Danita Tutt, removed the little boy from their care without the doctor's permission in disregard for his health and well-being to let him go home and die, essentially. Danita Tutt found guilty and sentenced and is now taking to the airwaves. Once again, me, me, me, me, me, me, I've been mistreated.

Well, you know what, Danita Tutt? I think the jury got it right. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.