Little boy caged in wooden crate air-lifted to KC hospital after suffering abuse, malnutrition

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    STONE COUNTY, MO/KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV/KSMO ) — Four people in southern Missouri have been charged in connection with severe malnutrition and physical abuse of a four-year-old boy who had to be air-lifted to a Kansas City hospital in critical condition after being kept in a wooden crate.

The situation involved a month-long investigation by the Stone County Sheriff’s Office. Four people living in the Billings, MO, home where the abuse allegedly happened have been charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child with serious physical injury. The following suspects are all being held in the Stone County Detention Center on $50,000 each:

Dessa A. Barton, 26
W. Dalton McLendon, 26
Katherine Kost, 53
Richard A. Hilliker, 52
The investigation began after someone called 911 on Nov. 6 to report that a four-year-old boy was unresponsive at the home. Emergency medical crews transported the boy to Cox South Hospital nearby, then air-lifted him to a Kansas City hospital in critical condition.

Those medical crews told law enforcement that the boy had suffered multiple injuries that were consistent with physical abuse, along with extreme malnutrition, according to a statement released by the Stone County Sheriff’s Office.

During the course of a subsequent investigation, detectives on Nov. 25 discovered at the home a wooden crate constructed of pallets, which they believed was used to cage the boy for extended periods of time.

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