Woman arrested for child abuse--bond set at $5.5 million

LAKE CHARLES, LA - A Lake Charles stepmother and father are facing serious charges of child abuse. 27-year-old Jaime Day and her husband, 30-year-old Murray Day were arrested after a concerned citizen led authorities knocking on the door of their south Lake Charles home. Inside the home at 2841 Southern Ridge Drive, a Calcasieu deputy found a nine-year-old boy living like an animal. A dog leash found tied to two separate door knobs to keep him locked in his room. Weighing only 38 pounds, the boy was found laying on a filthy foam pallet on a box spring, with a sheet saturated in blood and urine. The boy told investigators he wasn't allowed to eat with the family, but instead forced to watch them - sometimes eating his own feces and urine to survive. He also suffered hypothermia from malnutrition and second degree burns on his back from a sock that was heated up with rice. The boy was dressed in a T-shirt and wearing a diaper with multiple bruises on his face and body. "We are very fortunate that we are not investigating a murder case in my opinion," said Sheriff Tony Mancuso. The investigation reveals the majority of the alleged abuse was at the hands of the boy's stepmother Jaime Day, she's now charged with 25 counts of cruelty to a juvenile. Her bond is set at 5.5-million dollars. Her husband, Murray Day, turned himself in Tuesday evening and also faces five counts of cruelty to a juvenile. His bond is set at two million dollars. While Sheriff Mancuso says the evidence ...