Go-Go Dancer Sought In Child Starving

Police hunted for a go-go dancer Monday after a 7-year-old boy in her care was found dead in a plastic storage bin and his two brothers were discovered, beaten and starving, in a locked basement room.

Sherry L. Murphy, 41, is accused of beating and burning all three boys, who had been entrusted to her by their mother — her cousin — months earlier.

Murphy was charged with child endangerment and could face more serious charges in the case of 7-year-old Faheem Williams, whose death has been characterized by prosecutors as a homicide.

The grisly case began to unfold Saturday, when Faheem's twin brother, Raheem, and another brother, Tyrone, 4, were found in a basement room in Murphy's two-story Newark rowhouse.

One of the boys said at the hospital that his brother had been missing for weeks. That led police to Faheem's body, stuffed in a storage bin in the same basement. He had been dead for weeks, investigators said. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

The discovery prompted Gov. James E. McGreevey to demand a report on the case from the Division of Youth and Family Services. McGreevey said someone had complained to the agency in October 2001 that the boys were being abused, but the case was closed in March 2002 without an onsite investigation.

The surviving boys were being treated at a hospital for starvation and dehydration. They were reported in fair condition.

Mayor Sharpe James said Tyrone had burns from his neck down.

"Love is being given to them, food is being given to them," James said after visiting the boys.

The boys' mother, Melinda Williams, is in a hospital in New York City after being hit by a car Saturday, authorities said.

Williams told police she put the children in Murphy's care in March when she went to jail for assault. She was released in August, but she told police she could not find Murphy or the children, the mayor said.

Williams and Murphy had worked together as go-go dancers, James said.

Murphy's live-in boyfriend found the surviving boys Saturday while looking for work boots in the basement, police said. He told police he had been living in the house for two weeks and knew nothing about the children.

Neighbors said Murphy kept to herself and was not well known in her working-class neighborhood of two- and three-story multifamily dwellings.

Debra Barnes, 44, said she had never exchanged a greeting with Murphy since moving in two months ago and had never seen the three boys.