DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A man who runs a Douglasville community outreach center says he would have done anything to help if he had known small children left alone in a nearby home went hours without food.
A 1-year-old died in the home.
Sherry Magby, 37 years old, now faces six counts of second-degree child cruelty, and more charges could be on the way.
“All they had to do was come down here. We could have helped them get food, said Ken Howell, with Community Outreach.
The program is just steps away from the home on James D. Simpson Avenue where police say the children were left alone for approximately 12 hours with no food.
Howell’s heart sank when Channel 2’s Tom Jones told him the child died in the home, and police say five other children were left alone in unsanitary conditions.
“You seemed shocked by this,” Jones said to Howell.
“I am because this whole neighborhood knows what this is all about,” he said.
Howell’s community outreach center is a short distance from the home. He says the outreach center works to uplift those in the neighborhood.
“I just don’t understand how that could be that close and knowing we’re right here,” Howell said.
Police say they were called to the home in late March on a cardiac arrest call. The county coroner confirmed the child’s death.
Officers say they smelled a foul odor consistent with unsanitary living conditions. They say they found a 10-year-old supervising siblings ages 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8.
The 10-year-old said the 1-year-old had been eating ants and cockroaches.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified said the allegations are heartbreaking.
“It breaks my heart because if I knew that they wasn’t getting food I would have fed them,” the neighbor said.
Police said every room in the house was in disarray.
Neighbors said they would see the children outside playing but didn’t see their mother.
“It’s very sad. Very sad. It’s sad. It’s even hard to talk about.”
There is also a church near the home where people say the children’s mother could have gotten help.
Magby is being held without bond. She’s also accused of stabbing one of her children in the back with a pocketknife in 2023. She was out on bond in that case and is also scheduled to head to trial next month.
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