Kehinde and Titilayo Omosebi were arrested on Sunday in the U.S. after their 15-year-old son,Ayanfe Omosebi, died following a 40-day fast, the police in Reedsburg,Wisconsin, said.
According to the Chippewa I Herald,Police Chief Timothy Becker, said the father,Kehinde, 49, walked to the police department Sunday afternoon to report the death of his son, .
When officers went to the family’s home on Alexander Avenue, they had to force their way in through doors that had padlocks on the inside and found Ayanfe “extremely emaciated and deceased,” Becker said.
An 11-year-old child was also found extremely emaciated but alive along with the mother, 48-year-old Titilayo Omosebi, who was also emaciated, according to Becker.
He added that the father described himself as a “religious minister affiliated with Cornerstone Reformation Ministries,” and the family started their fast on July 19.
However,Pastor of the Cornerstone Ministry Baptist Church in Reedsburg, Sonny Hyde, said the family was not affiliated with his church and he has not heard of Cornerstone Reformation Ministries in the community.
The father told police his son died on Friday, Becker said, which would have been the 44th day of the fast.
No food was found in the home, according to the Police, and the mother and an 11-year-old child were brought to a hospital for medical treatment, which Titilayo Omosebi refused, citing religious restrictions.
The couple were taken to the Sauk County Jail on tentative charges of neglecting a child causing death and neglecting a child causing great bodily harm, Becker said.
He said the 11-year-old child was placed in protective custody and brought to the Children’s Hospital in Madison.
Doug Knuth, A neighbor who has,for about eight months, lived next door to the duplex the Omosebi family lived in, said he does not recall ever seeing the family.
He said he didn’t know about the situation until he was contacted by a television news station Monday.
“We’re certainly praying for the other child,” he said.
