LAKELAND -- The parents of the infant that died during a family trip to Lakeland have been charged with first degree murder.
According to the Lakeland Police Department, the parents, 23-year-old Ruby Angeline Stephens and 48-year-old Roy Allen Stephens have been taken into custody.
The Medical Examiner findings revealed that the infant, 22-day-old Betsey Kee Stephens, died of malnutrition as a result of starvation.
According to police, the couple from Tennyson, Ind., was visiting Lakeland Dec. 23 and went to a Golden Corral on US Highway 98 North. While at the restaurant, the couple called authorities after they say they noticed their daughter had unusually cold feet and was unresponsive in her car seat.
The Lakeland Fire Department and Polk County Fire Rescue responded and the baby girl was transported to the Lakeland Regional Medical Center. The infant was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
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