SUFFOLK
Zanya Krystina Jones likely hadn't eaten in at least a day or two when she died, a prosecutor said Thursday.
There was almost no urine left in the 11-month-old's body, and when police found her Monday afternoon, she was on the living room floor, already beginning to stiffen from rigor mortis.
Prosecutor Marie Walls said in Suffolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations C ourt early Thursday that there was little food in the house. The refrigerator wasn't working, and there had been no running water in the home for about a year and a half.
"Mrs. Jones indicated the child was cold," Walls said. "Her eyes were glazed over. She said she'd fed her breakfast but hadn't checked on her since because 'I was afraid she'd wake up, and I wouldn't be able to get to sleep.' "
Despite the prosecution's request, Judge Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. set bond at $5,000 for the girl's parents, Shawntay D. Jones and Linwood Jones Jr. Both are charged with three counts each of child abuse and neglect.
The defense attorneys argued that both are lifelong residents of Suffolk, that neither had a prior criminal history and that they were not a danger to themselves or the community. Neither can have any contact with their other children - ages 3 and 4 - except at the funeral, and neither should be caring for any other person, the judge ruled.
Walls said the results of the infant's autopsy are expected in about two weeks.
Linwood Jones worked in a retail store during the day and stayed with the children at night, while his wife worked.
"I have to mourn the death of a child," he told the judge.
Linda McNatt, (757) 222-5561, linda.mcnatt@pilotonline.com
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