Left: Tristan Hull. Right: Brittany Hull (Marathon County Jail).
A Wisconsin man has admitted guilt in the case of his 15-year-old daughter, who weighed a mere 58 pounds and was made to stand with her arms raised “for hours” in a locked room.
Tristan Hull, aged 40, pleaded guilty on Monday to continuously neglecting a child, resulting in significant bodily harm, as per court documents. His wife, Brittany Hull, 33, who is the girl’s stepmother, also faces charges of neglect and abuse, with her legal proceedings still in process.
According to a criminal complaint acquired by Law&Crime, the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office responded to a medical emergency at a residence in Rib Mountain, approximately 90 miles east of Green Bay, on October 15, 2023. Upon arrival, Tristan Hull informed officers that his daughter experienced difficulty breathing while ingesting a protein shake, leading her to “stiffen up” and lose consciousness, as stated in the affidavit.
Emergency medical personnel endeavored for about 25 minutes to revive the girl before stabilizing her and transferring her to a nearby hospital. Her father mentioned she had health issues, specifically a condition affecting her blood circulation, the affidavit disclosed.
She was subsequently airlifted to another medical facility where “her organs began shutting down due to extreme dehydration,” according to the police report. Additionally, she suffered bone marrow failure as a result of malnutrition, the complaint noted. The girl required intubation for five days, during which doctors ruled out any underlying conditions impairing weight gain. Medical professionals assessed her to be at least 30 pounds underweight, suffering from “extreme malnutrition.”
Remarkably, after spending eight days in the hospital—and away from her father and stepmother—she gained almost 5 pounds and was able to improve her calorie intake, authorities reported.
Detectives spoke with the family’s pastor, who noticed the girl’s health “steadily decline” over the years. The Hull kids attended a children’s program once a week. The pastor said the girl would have trouble focusing in class because “she is literally starving.” When she was given a snack, she would “inhale” it, the pastor told cops. She would stuff food in her pockets and sneak off to other parts of the church to eat, according to the affidavit.
Brittany Hull allegedly blamed her stepdaughter’s condition on her ADHD, but doctors said nothing was preventing the girl from eating properly. She took her stepdaughter to a dietitian, but was not following the recommendations, cops noted.
Once she was feeling better, detectives spoke to the girl. She allegedly explained how her father and stepmother treated her differently from her siblings. The girl said her stepmother, who had been in her life for roughly 10 years, was “very strict with her when it came to eating, such as not allowing her to eat snacks,” the complaint stated. While her two siblings eat breakfast, she cannot. Investigators discovered there was plenty of food in the house and her siblings did not have nutritional problems, per the affidavit.
Investigators also allegedly observed locks on the girl’s bedroom doors and windows, along with a door alarm. The girl said her father and stepmother told her she had to have a special diet because of her ADHD. Brittany Hull allegedly refused to discuss her diet, and if she raised the issue, it would lead to arguments, the complaint said. She was also allegedly forced to eat away from the rest of the family during mealtime. The girl said Brittany Hull limited her water intake to 16 ounces a day, the complaint said. Sometimes she was so weak her stepmother spoon-fed her, according to cops.
Cops also recovered surveillance footage from the camera in the girl’s bedroom, which allegedly showed she was “forced to stand with her hands up for hours,” the affidavit said. Tristan and Brittany Hull would walk into the room and make her raise her hands higher, “even though she is visibly crying and shaking.”
Tristan Hull is slated to be sentenced on Oct. 29.
