A Minnesota father was sentenced to just five years in prison for starving his seven-year-old daughter to death.
Jewel Sky Fineday died on Dec. 25, 2022, on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, left “not just thin, but skeletal,” due to “lack of attention” from her 42-year-old father Julius Fineday Sr., according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
Julius was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to felony child neglect in connection with the tragic death of his infant daughter.
The girl’s grandmother and Julius’s mother, Sharon Marie Rosebar, 63, was convicted on April 30 on the same charges. Her sentence has not yet been set.
During the father’s sentencing, Judge Patrick Schiltz clarified that Jewel did not die of starvation because there was a lack of food in the home, but because Julius neglected his son “in almost every way” possible.
Seven-year-old Jewel Sky Fineday died on December 25, 2022 on the Red Lake Indian Reservation after her father, Julius Fineday Sr., 42, starved her.
The US Attorney’s Office said the girl was “not just thin, but emaciated” due to her father’s “lack of attention.” On Tuesday, he was sentenced to five years in prison.
Court documents revealed the seven-year-old boy died from a combination of malnutrition and group A streptococcus (GAS) infection due to neglect.
GAS is a contagious infection that often appears in the throat and skin, and while some cases are minor, others can cause life-threatening symptoms without treatment, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Jewel also had extensive head lice, was unable to attend school and had not been to the doctor in three years except to receive COVID vaccines that were paid for through cash incentives, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In a court filing before the father’s sentencing, defense attorney Robert Richman argued that his client should face only one year in prison for his actions, according to the Star Tribune.
Richman said the girl “died as a result of poverty, neglect and a family overwhelmed by the burden of caring for 10 minor children… Had Indian Family and Child Services intervened sooner, (she) would still be alive,” the outlet reported.
The attorney added that by 2021, the girl’s home was “no longer fit for human habitation… The home had no running water, heat or indoor plumbing… The walls had open holes with insulation hanging out and the home was infested with mice and cockroaches.”
During the father’s sentencing, Judge Patrick Schiltz (pictured) clarified that Jewel did not die of starvation because there was a lack of food in the home, but because Julius neglected his son “in almost every way” possible.
She said Julius acknowledged what he did to Jewel and “tried to take care of her and her siblings” but “didn’t realize she was dangerously malnourished.”
Jewel’s native name was Miikawaddizimikinaakikezens, meaning ‘Beautiful Turtle Girl’, according to her obituary.
She enjoyed playing hide-and-seek and tag with her cousins and siblings, dancing, and watching TikTok videos on her dad’s phone.
“Jewel was always concerned about her father, always making sure he was happy,” the obituary said.
A two-day wake for the little girl was held from January 4, 2023 to January 5, 2023 at the Ponemah Boys and Girls Club in Ponemah.
Schiltz said he hopes that through his sentencing, other parents will understand that “neglecting or abusing a child will have negative consequences not only for the child, but also for the responsible adult.”
Schiltz added that she hopes parents will consider Julius’s fate and decide to “pick up the phone” to ask for help in caring for their children.
DeShaun Matinez, who was routinely kept in a closet at the family home for 16 hours at a time, weighed just 18 pounds when his body was found in March 2020.
After serving time behind bars, Julius will face two years of supervised release for child neglect.
Another Arizona father was sentenced to life in prison after starving his six-year-old son to death in 2020.
Anthony Jose Martinez, 28, was sentenced in Coconino County Superior Court on June 28, where his attorney also read a personally written statement of apology.
In it, Martinez apologized to the deceased boy’s three other siblings, two of whom did not suffer the same physical abuse but still suffered long-term damage, authorities said.
The boy who died, DeShaun Matinez, was routinely kept in a closet in the family home for 16 hours at a time, a crime for which the boys’ mother was also sentenced to life in prison this time last year.