Parents accused of starving daughter to death appear in Gwinnett court

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The parents accused of starving their 10-year-old daughter to death testified in a custody battle Wednesday.

The mother of Emani Moss is trying to keep custody of her two other children as prosecutors want to send her to death row.

Channel 2’s Tony Thomas was the only reporter in the juvenile court hearing as attorneys mapped out the case.

The state is trying to officially terminate the rights of Moss’ mother, Tiffany Moss, to care for her other two living children.

Moss has kept a stoic face throughout the past few months, as attorneys for the Department of Children and Family Services pushed to terminate her rights to care for her two living children.

On Wednesday, she broke down and even sobbed at times during testimony while lawyers peppered her with questions as she took the stand for the first time.

Questions included, “The last time you saw Emani, she was emaciated and very thin with her bones sticking out of her body, right?”

Moss began sobbing when attorney Kristin Jahn showed her a graphic picture of her deceased stepdaughter’s body and asked, "And it's true that Emani's feet were protruding from the bag and with her head down?"

Moss repeatedly pleaded the Fifth, under the advice of counsel.

“I am invoking my Fifth Amendment right,” she said.

Prosecutors are requesting the death penalty against Moss and her husband Eman Moss.

Investigators said their daughter weighed 32 pounds when they found her burned body stuffed in a trash can last November.

Both Tiffany and Eman Moss maintain their innocence and are fighting the criminal charges against them.

WSBTV