Parents charged with child neglect for failing to obtain medical care for injured 3 year old
By William Moore
Daily Journal
TUPELO. MS
A child is in a Memphis hospital and his parents are in jail, accused of not seeking medical attention for the 3-year-old.
Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson said the boy normally lives with a non-parental caregiver but was staying with parents Courtney Perkins, 36, and Jeremy Perkins, 35, both of Saltillo, over the holidays.
“The caregiver took the child to the parents over the weekend and there was a four-wheeler accident and the child suffered some sort of head injury,” said Johnson. “But they didn’t take the child to a doctor. They said he was playing like normal.”
The parents told authorities that later, the child walked out of the bathroom, fell, hit his head on a table and went into convulsions.
“The dad put the child in the shower,” said Johnson. “When that didn’t work to revive the unconscious child, he started CPR and chest compressions.
“The child was revived, but they still did not take him to the hospital.”
When the caregiver picked up the child and saw the bruises, she took the child to the hospital. Doctors then contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The ensuing investigation led to the Saturday arrest of the parents. Both are being held in the Lee County-Tupelo Adult Jail, charged with child neglect for depriving the child of necessary medical attention.
The child has been transferred to the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis.
william.moore@journalinc.com