Parents charged in death of malnourished 7-month-old boy

Marquita Johnson, Qwalion Busby indicted Tuesday by grand jury

SAN ANTONIO – A couple was indicted Tuesday by a Bexar County grand jury on charges of injury to a child by omission after their 7-month-old son died from severe malnourishment.

The child's mother, Marquita Johnson, 32, and father, Qwalion Busby, 35, were arrested Tuesday night by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit.

The Sheriff's Office said Busby called paramedics to their home in the 8400 block of Cascade Ridge near Converse last Dec. 23. He said their son, Naeem Busby, wouldn't eat and was having trouble breathing.

Investigators saw that the child was malnourished, dehydrated, bruised and covered with a rash, and his skin was flaky and falling off.

The baby was taken to North Central Baptist Hospital, where he died hours later.

The child weighed just over 10 pounds when he died. He weighed 7 pounds when he was born, the Sheriff's Office said.

The Sheriff's Office said Johnson told investigators that doctors would not see the boy because he was not vaccinated.

"They're now in custody here at the Bexar County Jail and they will face for charges for what they did, or rather what they didn't do. In this case, we feel they're responsible for this child's death because they failed to get him the proper medical attention that he needed," Sheriff's Office spokesman James Keith said. 

Child Protective Services took custody Tuesday of other children in the family’s home, the Sheriff's Office said.