Legal guardians of 9-year-old Detroit boy who died from untreated pneumonia head to trial
A district court judge ruled the legal guardians of a young Detroit boy who died under their care will now stand trial.
Investigators say Sherman Jones and Sampaguita Jones neglected and physically abused 9-year-old Owen Rosario, leading to his death from complications of untreated pneumonia in September 2024.
"They allowed this child to die instead of getting him medical attention in order to hide their abuse and to hide this child from the authorities," said Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Brittany Johnson.
Prosecutors say both defendants are licensed foster-care workers who operated a foster home for nearly a decade and were Owen's legal guardians at the time of his death.
"We are not dealing with a child who has one injury, and then they passed away because they got pneumonia. We are talking with a kid who was systematically tortured, beaten, something happened to him to cause these injuries, to cause this scarring," said Johnson.
During the final day of the preliminary examination, defense attorneys cross-examined child abuse pediatrician Dr. Bradley Norat on his findings, which said Owen had an infection of the fluid surrounding his lungs, which typically comes from pneumonia spreading throughout the organs for multiple weeks.
As the illness progressed, Norat says the injuries found on Owen's body were not a result of the fractures that may occur during hospital resuscitation, but rather ongoing torture and abuse.
"The majority of the rib fractures and scapula fractures fit in the non-accidental trauma group, rather than in the accidental," said Dr. Norat.
Defense attorneys argued that there was no evidence or testimony to suggest that the boy's injuries were caused by the guardians.
"If someone is going to sit there and systematically abuse a child, why stop at just one child? If individuals are going to do that, why stop at just one?" said defense attorney Vincent Haisha.
In his ruling, 36th District Court Judge Shawn K. Jacque said there was enough probable cause to push the case forward.
"By not providing the care that he needed, which was medical treatment, this court does believe there is probable cause to believe that felonies were committed by both defendants," said Jacque.
Both defendants face multiple charges, including felony murder, torture and involuntary manslaughter.
Their next court date is set for Dec. 26.