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 Jarrod Tutko Sr., 39, and his wife, Kimberly Tutko, 40, both of
Harrisburg, pleaded guilty in October to third-degree murder and
related offenses in the death of Jarrod Tutko Jr., and the
near-death of his sister Arianna.
After they pleaded guilty, prosecutor Sean McCormack said he would
seek consecutive sentences amounting to 26 to 52 years for the
father, and 23-1/2 to 47 years for the mother because of the gravity
of their crimes.
"We anticipate and hope that the sentences will be tantamount to
life in prison,” McCormack said in Dauphin County Court of Common
Pleas in Harrisburg. He said neither parent showed remorse.
 Neither Michael Palermo, the lawyer for Jarrod Tutko, nor Bradley
Winnick, Kimberly Tutko's lawyer, responded to repeated requests for
comment.
The couple lived with their six children, all but one suffering from
a medical or developmental disorder. Kimberly Tutko has four other
children, fathered by a different man, and they were all taken away
from her by court order.
On Aug. 1, 2014, Harrisburg police went to the Tutko residence and
found the decomposing body of Jarrod Jr., who had died about four
days earlier. He suffered from Fragile-X Syndrome, a genetic
disorder, and was 3-1/2 feet tall and weighed less than 17 pounds
because of starvation, an autopsy found.
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His parents kept him locked in a third-floor room with no bed or
lights, where he smeared himself and the walls with his feces,
authorities said.
The daughter, Arianna, 10, was found in a second-floor bedroom in a
coma, hours from death, police said. She recovered, and all five
children were taken from the parents by state authorities.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jeffrey Benkoe)
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