Children to remain with DSS Judge: Siblings of starved child should stay in state custody

By JOE PERRY
Item Staff Writer
jperry@theitem.com

Three children taken into emergency protective custody on Monday after their 17-month-old sibling died from starvation and his twin sister was hospitalized are to remain in the care of the state Department of Social Services, Family Court Judge Jeffrey Young ruled Thursday afternoon during a probable cause custody hearing.

Marketta Sharnise McCray, 23, and her husband, Kevin DeWayne Isaac, 25, both of 132 Carolina Ave., were charged with homicide by child abuse or neglect and unlawful conduct toward a child on Tuesday after autopsy results showed Sincere Isaac, 17 months, died Monday afternoon from starvation. Officials said he weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces. His sister, Treasure, is in serious but stable condition at Palmetto Health Richland and weighs only 9 pounds.

Judge George Gibson gave McCray and Isaac a $50,000 surety bond on Wednesday for the unlawful conduct charge, but they remain at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center pending a hearing before a circuit court judge in General Sessions court for the other charge, which carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

Young said DSS will investigate from now until a merits hearing is held on April 2, the possibility of NaShawn Dwyer, 9, Tanasia Isaac, 6, and Kevin Isaac Jr., 4, staying with McCray and Isaac’s relatives. Until then, the three children — even though hospitalized, Treasure is also included — will remain in foster care.

Young ordered both parents into a treatment program and they agreed to participate. Marilyn Matheus, DSS spokesperson in Columbia, said later that the program typically involves a series of parenting classes, drug screenings and possibly a mental health evaluation. She also said it was possible they could participate in the program while incarcerated.

“It’s very important you follow this treatment plan, otherwise your parental rights could be terminated,” Young told McCray and Isaac at the hearing.

Young asked the parents if they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and they replied they were not. He also asked them if foster care was in the children’s best interest, and they both said, “Yes, sir,” nodding their heads in agreement.

DSS Attorney for Sumter County Deborah Nielsen told Young the children should remain in foster care under DSS supervision until the next hearing and relayed that McCray and Isaac requested court appointed attorneys for the custody matter. Nielsen also said the couple requested an attorney for the criminal matters.

Although several members of McCray’s and Isaac’s families were present during the hearing, they did not speak and declined comment afterward.

“I came to get my babies,” McCray said, turning around to face her mother, Marva McCray, at the outset of the hearing.

Marketta McCray, her red hair now braided into a ponytail, was more composed during Thursday’s hearing than on Wednesday, when she sobbed loudly throughout the proceedings. Her emotions apparently became unbottled afterward as she was heard crying while being escorted out of the courtroom by Sumter County deputies, her shackled feet slowing her departure.

Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson sat next to police investigators and local DSS officials but did not address the court.

The couple’s children were taken on Monday from a house police described as filthy with roaches, dead vermin, an overflowing trash can and clothing strewn about. One of the rooms in the home was apparently for the family’s dog, which lived on a chewed up mattress amid feces and a foul odor. The two youngest children apparently shared an unclean crib while the other children shared a mattress in one of the rooms.