Seven children who were saved from their violent mother have spoken up about the years of suffering they endured.
Two of the children, 16-year-old boy and girl twins, managed to flee the family’s Houston, Texas, house on Tuesday and persuade a neighbor to assist them.
After realizing that the twins had fled, the mother Zaikiya Duncan, 40, and her boyfriend Jova Terrell, 27, left the residence. They were eventually apprehended in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a four-hour journey across Texas from Texas.
The two were often zip-tied while being held nude and bound to a moving dolly in the laundry area. Deep cuts, bruises, and scars on the twins’ wrists and ankles, among other body areas, were shown in photos of them.
The youngster said that after hiding the handcuff key in his lips after finding it in his mother’s purse, he attempted a daring escape at approximately five in the morning.
Both were barefoot until a neighbor took them in after they knocked on numerous doors. The kid was just wearing trousers when he fled, while the girl was only wearing a flimsy sweatshirt and pants.
Duncan’s remaining five children, who ranged in age from seven to fourteen, were put into the custody of child protective services; four of them had been abandoned with Louisiana relatives, and the fifth was already living there.
The list of horrifying assaults was described in full in criminal papers acquired by Houston network KHOU on Thursday.
The 16-year-old youngster admitted to his investigators that his mother gave him 24 Benadryl pills, which are often used for colds and allergies, to put him to sleep.
One to two pills every six hours, up to a maximum of 12 in a 24-hour period, is the typical dosage.
He had a seizure after being forced to consume the full package of tablets at once.
The dose was subsequently reduced by Duncan to 20 pills.
Dangerous dosages of the medication were also administered to his twin sister.
Investigators learned from the children that their mother poured bleach down their throats and all over their genitalia till it burned.
According to court records that the channel was able to get, she allegedly forced them drink household chemicals like Lysol and Easy Off as a punishment if they “spoke too much.”
Duncan banned her children from using the restroom, so they had to pee and feces on themselves before eating and drinking it.
They said that the only water they had was unclean water from a mop bucket.
The children told the investigators that their mother beat them severely, hitting them with curtain rods, extension cables, and other metal objects.
The 16-year-old boy was often hit by her boyfriend Terrell.
The youngsters, who were very underweight when they staged their escape on Tuesday, said they were famished and were fed once to three times each week, subsisting on bologna, mustard, relish, or relish sandwiches.
The family, who reside in a large house in a posh neighborhood, is said to have just recently relocated into the Houston area this summer.
The home on Marina Alto Lane sold in late July for a price ranging from $552,001 to $627,000.
Duncan and her partner may have purchased or leased the home, but the police have not yet confirmed this.
The formal living and dining room, covered patio, two-car attached garage, and access to a well-maintained community pool and waterpark are all features of the four-bedroom, three and a half bathroom house.
Duncan had already been charged with child abuse in Louisiana ten years before.
She picked up one of her five-year-olds from school and took him to the local hospital to have his feet, genitalia, and other body parts treated for burns.
Doctors concluded that it was most likely caused by being burnt by hot water. In addition, the youngster had injuries on his back, hip, and buttocks.
Police arrived at Duncan’s house and discovered a 20-month-old baby with his wrists tied and wrapped in garments. The records state that the child’s 4-year-old sibling was the sole other resident of the house.
According to the police, Duncan acknowledged forcing one youngster to do push-ups for up to an hour as a kind of normal punishment, which made the child’s hands swell.
According to court documents, the youngster was also made to sleep on the floor of the closet while the entrance was barricaded by boards to prevent the child from “escape[ing]” and “grabbing food from the kitchen.”
Two more of Duncan’s children also shown indications of abuse, according to the police record from the time, and were taken out of the house. They said Duncan acknowledged she had previously faced an investigation for child abuse.
The children were eventually given back to her after she was accused of cruelty to minors.