Police: Malnourished kids locked in closet for days at a time


A Riviera Beach man and woman are accused of severely neglecting two children for years — locking them in a closet for days at a time, not feeding them well and never taking them to school, a doctor or a dentist.

Sabrina Golden-Hazel, 44, and Quincy Leon Hazel, 44, both face two counts of child neglect with great bodily harm in connection to the treatment of the 17-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl.

Authorities were tipped off to the situation when the boy ran away from the home and was taken in by another person in Riviera Beach, who eventually took him to the police station, according to an arrest report.

The boy has obvious signs of an educational delay and rotting teeth. He is missing five to six of his top teeth and his bottom teeth have holes and signs of decay. He said he cries at night from the pain of his dental problems.

He told police that he and the girl would be locked in the closet for days at a time and wouldn’t see the sunlight. They would be fed rice and neck bones and would be forced to urinate and defecate in buckets.

The children would kick and punch the doors hoping someone would hear them and help them, the report said.

The adults stopped locking them in the closet after the girl pretended that she had died, which spooked them. After that, the children would sleep on the floor of another room.

When Golden-Hazel and Hazel would barely feed them, the children would be forced to sneak food or eat out of the garbage, which would sometimes make them violently ill.

The boy was also beaten with extension cords and other items, the report said.

The girl does not know how to spell her name and initially lied to police that she hadn’t been abused, police said. The report said that she was extremely scared and appeared to have been “coached on what to say.”

Golden-Hazel told police that the kids have had a troubled childhood and make up stories, the report said. She said she home-schools them but police wrote that she doesn’t have books in the house or the qualifications to do so.

Hazel told police that Golden-Hazel is in charge of doctor’s appointments and doesn’t know if the kids had ever been. He said that he is trying to do better but works a lot, the report said.

The Department of Children and Families released the children to two other people. The relationships between the children and the new guardians was redacted. The relationship between the children and Golden-Hazel and Hazel was also redacted.

Golden-Hazel and Hazel remain in Palm Beach County Jail on $100,000 bail each.

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