Malnourished Twin Girls Rescued from abusive mom, police say

Twin girls, 8, weighing 40 pounds each rescued from abusive mom.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports the mother, 28-year-old Kai Martinez, was arrested earlier this month and remains in the Yakima County jail. She’s charged with multiple counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and second-degree assault of a child.

Court papers say the girls told police they’d been abused, starved and locked in a bedroom before cousins rescued them Feb. 6.

Police say the twins weighed less than 44 pounds each when they were rescued. According to a police affidavit, a doctor said the girls should have weighed twice as much as they did. Police spokesman Mike Bastinelli says they were taken to a Seattle hospital but are now recovering with relatives.

The newspaper says an unspecified number of other children at the mother’s home have been taken into protective custody.

Agencies/Canadajournal