Efrem Allen Jr., 25, and his wife Takesha Williams, 24, lived in Bartow, Polk County, Florida, United States with their three children. She gave birth to the children in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

In July 2020, the first child, a boy, nearly drowned at a short-term rental home in Davenport, Polk County. Doctors recommended to Allen and Williams that their son be removed from life-saving measures because the boy would forever be in a coma with no brain activity but the couple refused to do that.

Allen and Williams were sent home with their son on a ventilator with a stomach tube. For over two years, the boy received home health care in their apartment on Golfview Avenue in Bartow three times a week and his mother received benefits to stay home and care for him.

In October 2022, Allen and Williams began to reject assistance for their comatose son. When health care workers knocked, the parents would not be home or would not answer the door.

In April 2023, Allen and Williams noticed sores on their comatose son’s body. On the evening of May 11, 2023, the boy appeared to still be alive and had a heartbeat.

On the morning of May 12, 2023, Allen and Williams noticed the pulse oximeter was malfunctioning, their comatose son was cold to the touch and his stomach was bloated. At around 3:00 p.m., the mother called 911.

Bartow Fire Rescue paramedics arrived, saw the boy hooked up to a working ventilator and rushed him to Bartow Regional Heath, where he died. The had sepsis, pneumonia and stage 5 ulcers, according to the medical examiner.

On May 13, 2023, Allen and Williams were arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail in Bartow on $100,000 bond each. Their two other children appeared healthy and were removed from their care.

Initially, Allen and Williams were each charged with negligent child abuse causing great harm. On May 26, 2023, the charges were upgraded to aggravated manslaughter of a child.