A Milwaukee father, Romuan J. Moye, 45, was sentenced to 47 years in prison for starving his 12-year-old son, Jacarie Robinson, to death and leaving his body wrapped in blankets.
The crime, described as the worst case a veteran judge had ever seen, involved severe neglect and torture, with the boy’s 54-pound body found decomposing in a home filled with the stench of feces, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“I don’t understand this at all — it’s unconscionable,” Judge Laura Crivello said in court at his sentencing last week. “In my 30 years, the most vicious and aggravated thing I have ever seen.”
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“The offenses [are] stuff of a horror movie.”
Moye pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and other charges related to the death of his 12-year-old son, Jacarie, according to the New York Post. Jacarie’s body was found on October 10, 2023, in Moye’s North Elmhurst Road home.
The local medical examiner stated that Jacarie may have been dead for a month before his body was discovered, according to WTMJ 4.
“He was confined to a living room by his own father,” Deputy District Attorney, Matthew Torbenson said in court. “A person who is supposed to love him, care for him, raise for him, keep him safe, provide for him, slowly tortured him and killed him.”
Authorities described the house where Jacarie’s body was found as reeking of mold, feces, and decay, with the kitchen piled high with garbage, according to the criminal complaint.
Moye was sentenced to 47 years in prison, followed by 20 years of extended supervision for the homicide charge, according to WTMJ 4.
“The conditions inside the house were unlivable,” city police Detective Michael Driscoll told Fox after Moye was arrested in February. “Human feces, urinating in jugs, the smell, the mold.
“The facts in this case go beyond disturbing,” he continued. “They kind of cut deep into your soul at times.”
The young victim was remembered by his aunt and uncle as a happy, quiet child who loved wrestling and TikTok videos.
Police revealed that Jacarie was homeschooled and lived with his father while his two siblings lived with their mother. Although Moye had no prior criminal history, he had been accused of neglecting or abusing his other children at least four times, according to the Journal Sentinel.
The accusations of neglect and abuse against Moye were never substantiated, according to the paper. Authorities reported that Moye imposed strict eating rules and used food as punishment.
He allegedly considered Jacarie “bad” for being hungry and responded harshly and violently when he believed the child had stolen food.
“He was beaten, he was choked, he was stomped,” Detective Driscoll said.
In October, Jacarie’s family grew concerned when they had not seen him for a while and Moye stopped responding to messages. About two weeks before Jacarie’s body was discovered, Moye had sent his other children out of the house.
A suspicious older brother later returned to the home and found Jacarie’s decomposing body wrapped in a blanket.
The victim’s brother, Jay Moye, stated in court that the family was deeply shaken by the loss, according to Fox and the Journal Sentinel.
“Jacarie was my everything,” Moye said. “My everything. Jacarie was Jacarie, no matter what.”
