By Nikki Gaskins
ngaskins@abcnews4.com
DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV)—The aunt of a teenager who recently passed away is defending her family. Joshua Mendoza's mother and step-father are charged with neglect in his death. In a statement released on Tuesday, Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nisbet backs the charge.
The statement reads:
"Dorchester County Coroner has determined the death of thirteen year-old Joshua J. Mendoza was the result of severe neglect which led to malnutrition, and ultimately the death of the child. Although the child was diagnosed just after birth with tuberous sclerosis (TSC); with proper medical attention and medical care a person can live a long happy life with this condition. "Unfortunately, this was not the case with Joshua," explains Coroner Nisbet.
"I've never seen my sister so broke down this has all happened," said Shauna Beach, the sister of Kimberly Love.
Beach says Love and her husband, Jason Buckley, never once neglected Joshua.
"I think they're all jumping to conclusions too fast before they speak to any of us. I know that I haven't given any interviews to police or talked to the coroner," she said.
Beach says her sister's life revolved around taking care of Joshua and her three other children.
"She's stayed at home and devoted her life to her kids. People have told her to put Joshua in a home, and she's like ‘I don't want to put Joshua in a home,'" said Beach.
According to the coroner, Mendoza died on February 10th, weighing less than fifty pounds.
Nisbet goes on to further write in his statement:
Neglect may include the failure to provide sufficient supervision, nourishment, or medical care, or the failure to fulfill other needs for which the victim is helpless to provide for himself or herself. Malnutrition is the condition that occurs when your body does not get enough nutrients. In some cases, malnutrition is very mild and causes no symptoms. "In this case; however, it was so severe that it led to a child's death," Nisbet details, "at thirteen, the child weighed less than 48 pounds when he died."
Several weeks before his death, Beach says her sister thought her son had come down with a bad case of the flu and that's why he wouldn't eat.
"Which you know, you take medicine for the flu, but you kind of have to let it run its course," she said. "For a month, she was buying all these drinks and medicines to try and get his immune system built up and get him to eat."
In the final paragraph of Nisbet's statement, he writes:
After a thorough investigation by the Coroner's office, it was learned that the child's last known medical visit was in 2006 after which a DSS investigation was initiated for the parent's failure to follow up on his treatment. The forensic pathologist responsible for the autopsy determined the extent of the abuse to be ongoing and extensive. This child was neglected for years and it's devastating to know that this is going on in our community.
"You can't go to a specialist doctor on a whim with no money. She did everything she could for him," Beach replied in response to Joshua not seeing a doctor regularly.
Beach says her sister discovered something terribly wrong with Joshua after checking on him on February 10th.
"She went in there and all of a sudden I hear my sister screaming," said Beach.
9-1-1 was called, she says, but it was too little too late. Now police are holding the couple responsible.
"Her and Jason are great people and anyone that knows them knows they're great people," said Beach.
Beach says the couple will appear in bond court on March 30. Family members say Love's other children are in the custody of D.S.S.
Joshua Mendoza (Provided)
