Police: Onondaga girl died from neglect, malnutrition

ONONDAGA - An Onondaga Township girl who couldn't walk or talk and depended solely on her mother for care died of criminal neglect, authorities allege.

Medical examiners determined that Hannah Warner, 16, died in November 2015 from "neglect caused by malnutrition," Ingham County Sheriff's Detective Charles Buckland testified Monday at a hearing where charges were issued against her mother. She weighed only 43 pounds, and her death was ruled a homicide, he said.

Her mother, Cari Ann Wright, 43, was charged Monday with murder, first-degree child abuse and torture in connection with her death. Wright was ordered held without bond in the Ingham County Jail pending further hearings in the case.

Sheriff's officials declined to discuss details of the investigation, including how the girl died.

But in Monday's hearing, Buckland told a 55th District Court magistrate that Wright was the sole caregiver for Hannah, who was born with physical and mental disabilities, couldn't communicate verbally and had been bedridden for most of her life, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Police were called to the family's home on Baldwin Street on Nov. 17 for a suspicious death investigation and found the girl's body in a bedroom where the doorway was covered with a blanket adorned with a note that said, "Sleeping," Buckland testified.

"Upon first glance, it was obvious that the person was gaunt," Buckland testified, "Her eyes were sunk in the back of her head. Her skin was tight to her bone, and it appeared that she was malnourished."

There were large, open sores across her lower back and buttocks, and her clothing and bedding were soiled, he testified.

Investigators determined that Hannah had last been to a doctor in March 2014, about 18 months before she died, Buckland testified.

She had a condition called "chromosome translocation," the detective testified.

A tube was placed in her trachea when she was less than a year old, and a feeding tube had been in her stomach throughout her life, he testified. The trachea tube had been non-surgically removed, and the feeding tube had not been changed recently and may not have been functioning when she died, the detective testified.

Wright told investigators that Hannah had been refusing to eat for some time, he said.

State Children's Protective Services workers had been involved in the past regarding complaints that Hannah was not being properly cared for, Buckland testified. But he added the family was not under state supervision at the time Hannah died.

Bob Wheaton, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, said the agency typically does not publicly discuss individual cases because of privacy concerns.

After CPS investigates an abuse or neglect complaint, it can petition a court to have a child removed from the home if the allegations are substantiated, Wheaton said. It can also provide services to the family so children are safe and the family can stay together, he said.

"Our top priority is the safety and well-being of the child," he said. "Along with that, to keep children at home is our preference."

An attorney who stood in court with Wright at her arraignment declined comment about the case and said she was awaiting a court-appointed attorney to handle her defense.

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.