Inset: Joshua Mulvey appearing in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on Aug. 20 (WTOL). Background: The home where Mulvey’s girlfriend’s 7-year-old starved to death (Google Maps).
An Ohio mother and her boyfriend have been charged with several felonies for allegedly starving the woman’s 7-year-old son with special needs. The boy was found dead two years ago, weighing a mere 19 pounds.
Joshua Mulvey, 28, was arrested last week and faces charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and third-degree child endangerment concerning the 2023 death of Kristopher Snyder, according to records.
The child’s mother, Samantha Hardiman, 29, is currently missing. She has been indicted on two counts of murder, three counts of child endangerment, and one count of involuntary manslaughter.
A press release from the Toledo Police Department detailed that officers responded around 7:30 p.m. on June 2, 2023, to a residence in the 1700 block of Freeman Street regarding a deceased child report. Upon arrival, police discovered “the special needs victim, Kristopher Snyder,” already dead, prompting an investigation into his death.
Kristopher reportedly lived with cerebral palsy.
“The case appears to be a homicide due to neglect,” the department wrote in the news release.
An autopsy, performed by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office, resulted in an updated cause of death, as reported by local CBS affiliate WTOL reported. The report concluded that the death was a homicide caused by “malnutrition and dehydration associated with cerebral palsy, with epilepsy as another significant condition.”
Mulvey appeared in court for a bond hearing on Wednesday afternoon. Lucas County Chief Criminal Prosecutor Jennifer Liptack-Wilson told Common Pleas Judge Joe McNamara that when authorities found the victim, Kristopher was “completely emaciated,” weighing in at just 19 pounds, which is significantly less than the average weight of a healthy 1-year-old boy, the Toledo Blade reported.
The prosecution stated that Mulvey had lived in the home with Kristopher and his mother for about two years, meaning he owed the child a “basic duty to make sure his basic nutritional needs were met.”
Mulvey formally pleaded not guilty to the charges through his court-appointed public defender, Dmitry Tatarko. The lawyer also requested that his client be released from detention on the condition that he wear an ankle monitor.
“I do not think I should be here in the first place, but that’s for another day,” Mulvey told the court, adding, “I will be a part of this process. I need answers myself.”
Tatarko’s request was ultimately denied, as McNamara set Mulvey’s bond at $300,000. He is currently being held in the Lucas County Correctional Center and is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 10, records show.
