Court documents reveal a harrowing tale of abuse meted out to two 16-year-olds in Texas whose mother has since been arrested.
Zaikiya Duncan, the mother of the children, and her boyfriend, Jova Terrell, were arrested in Louisiana on Tuesday, according to WBRZ-TV. They face charges of injury to a child.
Court documents obtained by KHOU-TV reveal what the twins — a boy and a girl — told investigators was done to them by their mother at the Cypress, Texas, house where they lived.
WARNING: The following narrative contains graphic details which many will find disturbing.
They said bleach was poured down their throats and also on their genitals until their skin was burned. When they were told they “talked too much,” they were forced to drink Lysol or Easy Off as punishment.
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The twins said they lived in their own filth and only had dirty water from a bucket to use to clean themselves.
Beatings were common, they said, with implements such as extension cords or curtain rods used on them. Terrell was accused of often punching the boy.
The two teens said their limited diet consisted of sandwiches of mustard, relish or bologna they were given once to three times per week. They told authorities that were often kept naked and handcuffed to a dolly in the laundry room. Court documents noted that the boy and girl each have cuts, bruises and scars on their wrists and ankles and other parts of their bodies.
The boy said he once had a seizure after being forced to consume 24 Benadryl tablets to make him go to sleep. After that, he said his mother lowered the dosage to 20 tablets.
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The boy said he was able to flee after he found the key to his handcuffs in his mother’s purse. At about 5 a.m. Tuesday, they fled their home and were taken in by residents of a nearby housing development.
“They said, ‘Can you help us, can you help us?’” KHOU quoted the woman who rescued them as saying, but did not use her name. “They were so skinny and so frail. They just looked like they had been through a lot.”
“When they came inside, they were like, ‘We are not here to hurt you,’” the woman told KTRK-TV. “She was shaking with her handcuffs. She was like, ‘We are looking for help. We just need help. We just broke out of our handcuffs. Our mom had us handcuffed in the laundry room.’”
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“The little girl was complaining that she couldn’t even close her hand because her hand just felt so tight and swollen from her trying to tug and pull off the handcuffs,” she said.
“The more I asked and realized how severe the situation was, it was just a flood of emotions that came over me,” she said, according to KHOU. “How a mother could do this to her kids and… I feel like my tears are out of frustration, anger and sadness.”
Police were called and the hunt for Duncan, Terrell and five younger boys began.
The couple had fled to Louisiana after the teens escaped. They were arrested in Baton Rouge, and although only one child was with them when they were taken into custody, all of the remaining children were located and taken into protective custody.
According to WBRZ, Duncan had a record of child abuse from over 10 years ago, when she lived in Baton Rouge.
