Eight children—ages 10, 9, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1—were beaten, starved, and tortured by their parents, Alonzo Dewite Maxin and Andrea Lynn Arthur. The children were homeschooled.
Arthur and Maxin reportedly “ran away to New Jersey after having their first child.” The family lived in various other places including Georgia, and McMinnville, Tennessee before moving to Manchester. Arthur’s sister Stephanie Hicks, who personally called authorities four times for a welfare check on the children, last saw them on Thanksgiving 2017. Each time a welfare check was performed, the family moved away. The children were severely beaten; they were locked in an empty bedroom at night and their food was rationed. The 10-year-old boy looked like he was 5 due to malnutrition. When they were rescued, the children’s home was filled with animal urine and feces, trash, and roaches; the children had lice. “Arthur stated that she home-schooled the children[; however,] the home school [did] not appear to be legitimate.”
The abuse came to light in August 2019, when a neighbor in the family’s trailer park saw one of the children eating out of the garbage and called the authorities. The neighbors had not previously known any children lived in the home, though the family had been there two years. Arthur and Maxin were charged with aggravated child abuse.
Date: September 17, 2019
Location: Manchester, Tennessee
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