NewsKansas City Public Safety

Actions

Parents charged in death of malnourished 10-week-old baby

jackson county jail
Posted

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The parents of a baby who died from severe malnutrition are charged in Jackson County Court in connection with the baby's death.

Austen M. Taube Hack, 19, and Sarah Stone, 20, both of Independence, are charged with the felony abuse or neglect of a child that resulted in death, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

Independence police officers were sent at 1:15 p.m. on Nov. 14 to an apartment at 4011 S. Cedar Crest Drive on a juvenile medical call.

The caller told police the baby was unresponsive in her crib, not breathing and cold to the touch, according to a court document
.
In addition, the caller told dispatchers CPR was being done on the baby.

Paramedics were sent to the apartment, but the baby was pronounced dead just before 2 p.m.

An Independence police detective questioned Taube Hack and he told the detective the baby was born at home and he supervised the birth, according to the court document.

Taube Hack also told the detective there were no medical personnel at the birth and the baby had not been to a doctor or received any of her vaccinations.

Police found drug paraphernalia and concentrated THC and what appeared to be illegal narcotic mushrooms, according to the court document.

Detectives also found out the baby weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 50 centimeters at birth.

The baby's weight dropped by nearly 2 pounds and she had grown by only five centimeters, according to the court document.

Taube Hack also told detectives the baby was on a regular breast feeding schedule.

Stone, the mother, also told police she breastfed the baby and thought the baby was "developing and felt the victim had ample hand and foot strength."

Taube Hack admitted he used marijuana in some form every day, the court document states.

Taube Hack told police they did not allow people to help care for the baby because "everyone makes it worse," according to a court document.

For jurisdictions that utilize the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be made by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.