Inset: Jessica M. Burke (Bay County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Bay County Law Enforcement Center (WJRT).
A 39-year-old Michigan mother could face life imprisonment following her involvement in the death of her 4-year-old son, who officials reported was severely malnourished, weighing just 10 pounds at his death last year.
Jessica Marie Burke was detained last week and is charged with felony first-degree child abuse in connection with the tragic death of young Noah Burke, as documented by Law&Crime. In Michigan, first-degree child abuse is punishable by up to life imprisonment.
Bay City Police Department officers responded at approximately 4:10 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2024, to a residence on the 900 block of McKinley Avenue. This followed a 911 call placed by a woman, later identified as Burke, who reported discovering her 4-year-old son unresponsive and not breathing, according to a report from MLive.
Emergency medical personnel responded to the address and the boy was pronounced dead later that day.
A subsequent autopsy reportedly determined that Noah’s manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was determined to be “severe extreme calorie malnutrition and complications thereof leading to extreme emaciation and failure to thrive.”
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A copy of the criminal complaint obtained by Flint Michigan ABC affiliate WJRT alleges that Burke “did knowingly or intentionally cause serious physical harm” to Noah by “starvation and malnourishment” that led to his death.
Bay County Prosecutor Michael P. Kanuszewski said the victim had special needs and weighed a mere 10 pounds when he was pronounced dead, about one-quarter of what a healthy child that age should weigh.
Other court documents obtained by WJRT explained that Noah was born with Esophageal Dysphasia, which is a “severely under developed swallow” that left him with “no ability to suck, root gag, or move his mouth.”
Kanuszewski told the station that the case was essentially a lose-lose for all involved.
“She had her hands full,” the prosecutor said of Burke. “He was not an easy child to care for, but how can anyone allow that to happen. That’s why it’s so tragic. No one wins in a case like this, regardless of the outcome.”
Burke appeared in court for her arraignment last week where a judge set a $250,000 cash-surety bond. She is currently scheduled to appear in court again on May 29.
