Autistic teen was starved to death, OH officials say. Mom’s boyfriend sentenced
An Ohio man was sentenced to prison in connection to the death of a 16-year-old autistic boy, officials say.
William Turnage was sentenced to 11 to 15.5 years in prison, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
Turnage pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering children following the death of 16-year-old Jeremiah Moore.
Turnage was offered the plea in exchange for testifying against Jeremiah Moore’s adoptive mother, Tamara Moore, who faces a murder charge, the prosecutor’s office said. Turnage was dating Tamara Moore at the time the teen died, McClatchy News previously reported.
McClatchy News reached out to Turnage’s attorney Aug. 26 but did not immediately hear back.
On Feb. 6 2024, Jeremiah Moore died in the basement of his Springfield Township home, according to WXIX.
“That is how officers found him when they arrived in that room, essentially a utility closet, in the basement on a cot, in nothing but a T-shirt and an absolutely disgusting pull-up diaper,” a prosecutor said in court as they showed the judge crime scene photos, according to the news outlet.
“There was not a trace of food in any part of his digestive tract, not in his stomach, not in his intestines, nothing,” the prosecutor said in court, WXIX reported.
Jeremiah Moore had been chained to a cot and starved to death, a coroner’s report said, according to WLWT.
“He can’t help himself. You know, they took advantage of that. And I think that that was really messed up,” neighbor Ellen Dowdell told the news outlet in April 2024..
In court, Common Pleas Court Judge Jody Leubbers told Turnage “God hopes you don’t get released early” and “There’s nothing you can say, you’re a monster. You’re nothing but a monster, sir. .. You’re going to have to live with this for the rest of your life. You don’t even go pick his body up after he died to bury him? You don’t have the decency to even do that?” WXIX reported.
In addition to murder, Tamara Turnage is also charged with endangering children, involuntary manslaughter and failure to report a crime or knowledge of a death. She pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 29.
Jeremiah Moore’s smile “would light up a room,” his obituary said. “He had a gentle soul, and his tight hugs were warm and loving.”
He loved animals, eating chips and cookies and he liked “sitting outside with his dog watching birds, and relaxing, and car rides,” the obituary said.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Autistic teen was starved to death, OH officials say. Mom’s boyfriend sentenced."
