Wife told police the baby was the result of extramarital affair, and her husband paid no attention to her

A baby girl named Betsey died, having being starved to death while strapped in her car seat as her parents ate a Florida Golden Corral restaurant.

The parents of the 22-day-old baby have been charged with first-degree murder, police said on Tuesday, accusing them of neglecting the suffering infant.

Ruby Stephens, 23, and Roy Stephens, 48, of Indiana, were visiting relatives in central Florida on December 23 when they called 911 after discovering the baby was unresponsive in their car, according to Lakeland Police.

Betsey Kee Stephens was declared dead at the hospital.

Ruby Stephens, 23 (left), and her husband, 48-year-old Roy Stephens (right), have been charged with first-degree murder in the starving death of the woman's newborn. Mr Stephens was not the girl's biological father

Neglected to death: Betsey Kee Stephens lost over 2lbs in the three weeks since her birth, weighing only 4lbs 1 ounce at the time of her death inside her parents' car

'She suffered tremendously over the 22 days that she was alive,' Mike Link, assistant chief of Lakeland Police, told a news conference.

He called photographs of the baby 'absolutely horrible.'

‘When I saw the photographs…it shook me to my core because in thirty years, I have never seen anything like that,’ Link told MyFox Tampa Bay.

Ruby Stephens told authorities that after arriving at their Comfort Inn hotel earlier December 23, she had checked the baby's feet and covered them with a blanket because they were cold.

The family went to a restaurant on US Highway 98 North in Lakeland to eat with relatives. The chain Golden Corral touts an 'endless buffet.'

When the mother went to take the baby out of a car seat just after 6pm, according to the arrest report, she noticed the baby was 'completely unresponsive and cold to the touch.'

A medical examiner later determined the death was a homicide resulting from 'starvation due to neglect,' according to an arrest report.

The baby had been dead for more than three hours before the parents took notice and called for help.

An autopsy found Betsey weighed only 4lbs 1 ounce at death, having shed about 2lbs since her birth. Normal weight for her age was about 8lbs, the medical examiner's office noted.

The baby was also dehydrated and appeared not to have been fed for six to seven hours prior to her death, according to the report.

Too late: Little Betsey had been dead for three hours before her parents took notice and called for help outside this Golden Corral eatery in Lakeland, Florida

Ruby Stephens told police that she had 'strictly breastfed' the baby every two-three hours on their way to Florida.

But after police told her about the autopsy's findings, she acknowledged that the baby likely had not been fed for much of their day-long road trip, with highway traffic making it difficult to exit to feed her.

The mother later told police that the infant had shown signs of health issues, but she had missed a December 18 doctor's appointment to have her weight checked before the Florida trip.

Roy Stephens was not the biological father, the mother told authorities, and had not paid much attention to her from birth.

'The obvious infidelity and subsequent pregnancy created a strain on the marriage,' the arrest affidavit read.