A Florida father and his wife allegedly starved their 9-year-old stepdaughter until she weighed just 45 pounds, locked her inside a mostly empty bedroom with a metal chain on the outside of the door, and fed her little more than oatmeal twice a day while convincing doctors that the child suffered from severe behavioral and eating disorders, according to an Escambia County Sheriff's Office probable cause affidavit.
Justin Patrick Redd, 33, and his wife, Brittney Michelle Redd, 28, are each charged with aggravated child abuse, child neglect causing great bodily harm, and failing to require school attendance. Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges and remain in the Escambia County Jail ahead of their July 31 arraignments.
Background
The monthslong investigation began after the girl was admitted to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in late December 2024 weighing approximately 45 pounds and suffering from blood in her urine before being transferred to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville because of severe malnutrition and hematuria, investigators wrote.
Medical staff described the child as "very malnourished and thin appearing," with muscle atrophy in her arms and legs, dry, scaly skin linked to malnutrition, and bruising. During her roughly two-week stay at Shands, she met all of her daily caloric needs and gained approximately 19 pounds, according to investigators.
Hospital records showed the girl consistently gained weight whenever she was removed from the defendants' custody. During one hospitalization in 2024, she gained nearly 9 pounds in four days. During another admission later that year, she gained more than 8 pounds in less than two weeks.
The Investigation
After arriving at the hospital, investigators said the girl told medical staff and detectives that since her father gained custody in 2023, the couple routinely locked her inside her bedroom "with a metal chain outside her door." She alleged she was forced to wear only a pull-up diaper, withdrawn from school, and typically fed only oatmeal twice daily with cold canned beans on occasion.
"She was not allowed to eat what everyone else ate," police wrote in the affidavit.
The child further alleged she was denied regular access to a bathroom, forcing her to soil herself because her bedroom door remained locked. Afterward, she said Brittney Redd made her take cold showers before ordering her to "shake off like a dog as they didn't have a towel for her." She also claimed she slept on the floor without a blanket and was forbidden from having friends or celebrating holidays or birthdays.
The defendants offered a starkly different explanation, investigators said. They claimed the girl suffered from medical and psychiatric problems, including self-harm, refusal to eat, bathroom issues, and an obsession with calories that caused her dramatic weight loss. They denied locking her in her room.
But detectives found no medical documentation supporting their claims. School records similarly undermined their account — teachers described the child as a typical third-grader who consistently ate all of her meals at school and exhibited none of the behavioral or eating problems the couple described, according to investigators. Records also showed Justin Redd withdrew her from school in May 2024 without medical justification and did not re-enroll her until after her hospitalization months later.
The affidavit alleges the couple missed 14 scheduled medical appointments while their daughter's condition continued to deteriorate.
Key Takeaways
- The girl weighed approximately 45 pounds when admitted to the hospital in late December 2024 — severely malnourished with muscle atrophy and bruising
- She allegedly spent months locked in her bedroom with a metal chain on the outside of the door, fed only oatmeal twice daily
- Medical records showed she consistently gained weight rapidly whenever removed from the defendants' custody
- Both Justin and Brittney Redd pleaded not guilty to aggravated child abuse, neglect causing great bodily harm, and school attendance violations
- After being placed with another family member in January, investigators reported that by March she had nearly doubled her weight and her blood work returned to normal
What's Next
The Redds remain detained in Escambia County Jail without bond pending their July 31 arraignment. They face up to life in prison if convicted on the most serious charge of aggravated child abuse causing great bodily harm. The girl has been placed with another family member and investigators say she is back in a traditional classroom, where teachers describe her as sweet, shy and eating normally.