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Clearfield parents accused of starving 2-year-old daughter

By Mark Shenefelt - | May 16, 2022

MARK SHENEFELT, Standard-Examiner

The 2nd District courthouse in Farmington is pictured Nov. 1, 2021.

FARMINGTON — A 2-year-old Clearfield girl’s parents were charged Monday in the alleged “near fatal” abuse of the toddler from malnutrition.

The unconscious girl was taken to Davis Hospital and then Primary Children’s Hospital on Nov. 25, 2021, where medical personnel were able to revive her, according to charging documents filed by the Davis County Attorney’s Office.

The girl’s condition was “due to prolonged starvation and malnutrition,” a Clearfield Police Department probable cause statement said.

The parents, Kaylee Paulla Jackson, 21, and Joseph John Murphy, 28, are charged with second-degree felony child abuse.

The charging documents quoted a Primary Children’s attending physician who determined, based on a review of the medical evidence, that the girl “suffered near fatal physical and medical neglect that has likely resulted in permanent physical and developmental disability.”

At the Salt Lake City hospital, the girl weighed less than she had on her last previous doctor visit 20 months before, the documents said.

The investigating officer said Murphy allegedly told her the parents had noted the girl was losing weight and she would not eat. They thought the girl’s throat hurt, so that was why she was not eating well, the charging documents said.

The parents were not in custody and will be issued summonses to appear in court. They did not have an attorney of record as of Monday afternoon.

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