ROMAN FOREST, Texas — Police in Roman Forest say the parents of a disabled boy intentionally starved him and kept him in his room tied to a bed with straps.
“There was hardly anything left of this child," said Roman Forest Police Officer R. Rippe. "I’ve seen him in person, he’s barely skin and bones. There was barely anything left of this child. He’s 17-years-old, he was 62 pounds.”
The boy's father, Jayson Joyner, 38, and stepmother, Jamie Joyner, 35, are both charged with first-degree felonies related to injury to a disabled person.
Police say they intentionally underfed the disabled, bed-ridden teen by not giving him enough sustenance through his feeding tube.
The parents were supposed to stretch the boys muscles manually, but instead tied straps to his legs and the bed and left him there for hours, according to police.
KHOU-11 spoke with the boy's grandfather who lives in the same home.
He says the Joyners are innocent and police got this all wrong. The grandfather says the boy was underweight because he has muscular sclerosis.
“After being in the hospital for three weeks, he weighs 89 pounds," Rippe said.
The grandfather says the boy's biological mother has come to Texas from Arizona and will return with the boy.
The teen is still recovering at Texas Children's Hospital, according to the grandfather.
The Joyners will both face a Montgomery County judge on Monday morning.
Their bonds have been set at $100,000 each.