Mother accused of starving kids lived with bodies for week

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – By the time social workers knocked on the door of Natasha Ward’s apartment on Jan. 24, her three children had just died or were near death from starvation in their cold, dark home.

The social workers, who were trying to find out why the children had been absent from school for three weeks, found the blinds drawn and there was no response at the door.

Ward, a 33-year-old single mother who police say confessed to starving the children to death, was charged with capital murder after the bodies were found Feb. 4. She apparently had lived with their bodies for more than a week, with the utilities cut off.

The bodies of Christopher, 8, Latrica, 9, and Shanieka, 11, were found fully clothed in separate rooms of the sparsely furnished apartment after police were summoned by their grandmother.

Police said family members had tried earlier to visit the apartment but Ward would not let them inside.

The preliminary autopsy report “says they died from starvation and dehydration,” said Huntsville police Sgt. Ed Cain. He said the autopsy found they had been dead a week to 10 days when found.

Ann Roy Moore, superintendent of Huntsville city schools, which sent two social workers to the apartment last month, said there had been no reason to suspect anything was wrong when the three did not return to school at the end of winter break.

There were no signs that anyone occupied the apartment during the Jan. 24 visit, and Moore said families sometimes move during the school year.