Houston mother charged after baby boy found severely underfed

Walteria Bledsoe, 23, was charged. Walteria Bledsoe, 23, was charged. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Houston mother charged after baby boy found severely underfed 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

When Varius Bledsoe arrived at Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital in November at 9 months of age he weighed as much as a newborn: a shocking 7 pounds, 9 ounces. He was so malnourished he suffered from renal, liver and heart failure and needed two abdominal surgeries.

Varius is now fighting for his life, still being fed through tubes in the hospital.

His 23-year-old mother, Walteria Bledsoe of Houston, was in state District Judge Marc Carter's court Monday to face charges that she didn't feed her son properly.

"The child, at 9 months old, weighs what a newborn would weigh," said Assistant Harris County District Attorney Alison Baimbridge. "It appears to be fairly severe. The child was severely malnourished."

The child should have weighed about 17 pounds, Baimbridge said in court.

Varius was born premature, at 28 weeks, on Feb. 29, and spent 10 weeks in the hospital. He weighed more than 5 pounds when he was released.

Bledsoe told authorities the boy could not keep infant formula down, so she tried to feed him evaporated milk instead at the suggestion of a family member, according to court records.

When Bledsoe took her son to the hospital, court records show, the infant's stomach was sunken in and his ribs could be seen.

She told investigators that her son was small but did not appear to her to be malnourished, according to the arrest warrant. She said her other children are also small, and the child's father is small.

Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman with Child Protective Services, said infants cannot digest regular milk or evaporated milk and must be fed formula or breast milk.

Olguin said CPS has now placed Bledsoe's other two children, who were also born prematurely, in foster care.

After the brief court hearing, the woman's sister, Tasha Bledsoe, said investigators are lying about the child's condition.

"He's not bad, like they say," she said. "My sister is a good mother."

Bledsoe faces life in prison if convicted of the first-degree felony. She is free on $20,000 bail. In court, she said she had yet to hire an attorney.