Dad guilty of starving 4-year-old daughter to death
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Main: Rodney McWeay during his June 17, 2025, sentencing hearing in Atlanta (WXIA). Treasure McWeay (Family handout).

A Georgia father is set to spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted for starving his 4-year-old daughter to death almost two years ago. Her body was found severely lacking in food and water. On Wednesday, a Fulton County jury found Rodney McWeay guilty of all 14 charges against him related to the death of young Treasure McWeay. These charges included one count each of malice murder and felony murder.

The jury also found him guilty of three counts each of first-degree child cruelty, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

During the reading of the verdicts, McWeay remained mostly expressionless and composed as captured in footage from the courtroom. The jury reached their decision just over a week following the start of the trial, as reported in courtroom footage of the proceedings provided by Atlanta NBC affiliate WXIA.

As Law&Crime previously reported, Treasure was so badly malnourished that she weighed only 24 pounds and had less than an ounce of water in her belly when she was pronounced dead at a children”s hospital in Atlanta on Dec. 11, 2023. A healthy child her age should be roughly double that weight.

Officers with the Atlanta Police Department at about 3:53 p.m. that day responded to McWeay’s home in the 4000 block of Renfrew Court in regard to a call about an unresponsive 4-year-old who had been transported to Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. McWeay was not at the house when authorities arrived, but his two sons were also hospitalized with severe malnutrition and other ailments.

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Authorities said the physical evidence showed that McWeay consistently abused and neglected Treasure and her two brothers inside of his home — which prosecutors reportedly referred to as a “house of horrors” during last week’s opening statements — from about May 2021 to December 2023.

After a complaint was filed with social services about the “unsatisfactory conditions” of Rodney McWeay’s home, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, in late June 2023, took custody of the children. But within a week, police said McWeay traveled to Maryland, where the children’s mother, Passion Mitchell, lived.

He then “stole her car and left it parked at a train station as he brought the kids back to Georgia,” police wrote in the affidavit.

The Georgia Gazette reported that McWeay exercised dictatorial control over his children, keeping all three of them locked in a single room, which they were only permitted to leave with his express permission. McWeay also had no food or children’s clothing in his home when police executed a search warrant on the property. However, they said he did keep several operational surveillance cameras inside and outside the home, with some pointed directly at the children’s beds.

“He controlled everything, so no one got in — not even law enforcement,” Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Marshal Hodge told jurors during her opening statement, per WXIA. “Until Treasure died.”

McWeay was arrested about two weeks after his daughter’s death when officers surveilling his house spotted him leaving through the front door and detained him.

At trial, his defense attorney argued that while the father made “some wrong decisions,” he never intended to hurt his kids and loved them all, WXIA reported.

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