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 The cancellation could mean that Jarrod Tutko, Sr., 39, and
Kimberly Tutko, 30, had agreed to a plea deal, though prosecutor
Sean McCormack would not comment on that possibility. He said the
Tutkos would still appear before a judge on Monday, and that the
hearing would be newsworthy.
The Tutkos, whose trial is scheduled to begin in Dauphin County
Court of Common Pleas in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, face criminal
homicide and other charges over the death of their son, Jarrod, Jr.,
9, last year and the abusive treatment of his sister, Arianna, 10.
The parents could face up to life imprisonment on the murder charge.
The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty.
The Tutkos, lived with their six children, all but one of whom had
some sort of medical or developmental problem, in a rented house in
Harrisburg, the state capital.
Courts had previously taken away four other children from Kimberly
Tutko, police said. Those children were fathered by another man.
On Friday, Aug. 1, 2014, Harrisburg police went to the house and
found the decomposing body of Jarrod Tutko, Jr., who had died about
four days earlier. The nine-year-old suffered from Fragile-X
Syndrome, a genetic disorder. He was three-and-a-half feet tall and
weighed less than 17 lbs 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 was prone to smearing himself and the walls with
feces, authorities said.
The daughter, Arianna Tutko, was found in a second-floor bedroom in
a coma and just hours from death, police said. She recovered, and
with the other four children, were taken away from their parents by
the state.
(Editing By Frank McGurty and Richard Balmforth)
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Pennsylvania
couple accused of starving son to death due in court
