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Ex-Barrington couple get 5 years in starved baby case

A former Barrington couple were sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to charges stemming from the starvation death of their then 7-month-old daughter in January 2014.

Markisha Jones, 20, and Gene Edwards, 23, each admitted guilt to involuntary manslaughter and felony child endangerment stemming from the death of their daughter, Mya, who was found unresponsive Jan. 8, 2014, in the family's rented apartment on the 100 block of South Hager Avenue in Barrington.

The Cook County medical examiner's office later determined Mya's death was a homicide due to malnutrition from starvation. Mya's twin sister, Mia, survived similar signs of neglect and is being raised by a foster family that's pursuing adoption.

Jones and Edwards will receive credit for the 556 days they've already spent in the Cook County jail since the charges were filed in May 2014.

Their guilty pleas Monday were followed by a sentencing hearing in which Cook County Judge Bridget J. Hughes heard testimony about both the circumstances of Mya's death as well as the troubled childhoods of her two accused parents.

While public defenders Caroline Glennon and David McMahon argued that both parents had been cursed by limited opportunities and resources, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Michael Gerber said both were high school graduates who had been deemed bright enough not to squander the breaks they'd been given.

This included a nurse at Hinsdale Hospital befriending the couple to the extent that she took them into her home in Bolingbrook to help look after their twin daughters just after their birth.

But disagreements over their responsibilities and the number of parenting classes they should attend led to Jones and Edwards moving to a family friend's house in Barrington.

There they found they no longer had as easy access to baby formula and other necessities because Barrington does not have a location for the federal Womens, Infants and Children food and nutrition program, and they had sold their vehicle to pay for their rent, defense attorneys said.

But Gerber called it inexcusable that the couple had only been willing to accept the help for their daughters on their own terms.

"Whenever an infant dies it's a tragedy, but this is a compounded tragedy," Gerber said. "One (child) starved because of their laziness. This case is egregious in the conduct of these people."

Public defenders said Jones was a victim of childhood abuse who went on to be an honor roll student, athlete and band member, while Edwards was born to a cocaine-addicted mother and thrown out of his grandmother's house while a high school athlete himself.

Though the possible sentences ranged from probation to 14 years in prison, Hughes did not accept the public defenders' request for the minimum.

"I don't believe either side overargued this case in any way," Hughes said. "There's evidence (Jones and Edwards) intended to feed these babies."

The judge further praised the young couple for having no previous arrests despite their difficult pasts and for being willing to accept responsibility. The case went on as long as it did only because the public defenders were arguing for the most appropriate sentence for the pair.

But the consequence of their mistakes was too big to ignore, she said.

"It was a human life. Mya Edwards was a human being," Hughes said. "Probation is not appropriate in that society lost a precious human life."

Jones also gave birth while in jail to a son who's now about 9 months old and being raised by her mother in Louisiana.

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