5-year-old weighs 25 lbs; mom charged with neglect

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child neglect
Naomi Hall arrested on charge of child neglect causing great bodily harm. Photo by Daytona Beach Police Department/Facebook

Daytona resident Naomi Hall is out on bond this morning after being arrested last Thursday on the charge of child neglect causing great bodily harm.

According to the arrest report, Hall was taken into custody after investigators from the Department of Children and Families went to her home and found her 5-year-old special needs son eating pieces of cereal off of a “filthy” floor and looking as though he had “[not] had a bath in quite a while.”

The boy was malnourished, dehydrated and weighed only 25 pounds.

The child could not walk, or talk, and according to Hall lets her know when he’s hungry by chewing on his hands.  Police say Hall told investigators that the boy sometimes went for three or four days without food, and that she made no attempt to feed him.  It was not clear if the reason she did not feed him was because he was not “chewing his hand.”
The child apparently has an eating disorder, as he had been prescribed an appetite stimulant by a doctor.  Hall, though, said she had not given him the medication the doctor prescribed.
According to investigators, Hall lives with her husband and two other children.  Authorities have not said why the husband was not also arrested, and have not disclosed the condition of the other children.