An Ohio mother was jailed after admitting to killing her four-year-old daughter by feeding her nothing but bottles filled with Mountain Dew.
Tamara Banks, 41, was sentenced this week to up to 13 and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her daughter Karmity Hoeb in January 2022.
Karmity died in hospital after suffering complications related to diabetes, as described by a prosecutor as “one of the most tragic cases I have ever encountered.”
The girl’s father, Christopher Hoeb, 53, also pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and will be sentenced June 11.
Tamara Banks, 41, was sentenced to up to 13 and a half years in prison this week after admitting to killing her four-year-old daughter by feeding her only bottles filled with Mountain Dew.
Four-year-old Karmity Hoeb passed away in January 2022 from complications due to untreated diabetes and suffered further medical problems related to her teeth dissolving due to an all-sugar diet.
Banks pleaded guilty in March, after prosecutors charged her and Karmity’s father with a slew of charges including murder and child endangerment.
Their guilty pleas to manslaughter meant the other charges were dropped.
Karmity died at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center after running there when he began showing symptoms related to his untreated diabetes.
The girl suffered terrible neglect during her short life and was denied medical care and proper nutrition despite showing signs of serious medical complications, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Days before her death, prosecutors said Karmity was suffering from a “serious medical problem,” but her parents did not call for help or take her to an emergency room.
Her symptoms deteriorated until she turned blue and stopped breathing, and only then did Banks call 911. Doctors were able to briefly revive her, but scans found she was brain dead.
Karmity’s cause of death was listed as diabetic ketoacidosis that spread to her brain, and prosecutors convicted Banks and Hoeb because her death could have been prevented if they had helped her untreated diabetes.
“This child did not have to die,” Clermont County Deputy Prosecutor Clay Tharp concluded.
The neglect Karmity suffered was even more heartbreaking because Banks also had a number of health problems and evidence showed she struggled to meet her own medical needs while ignoring her daughter’s.
This included regularly refilling her own prescriptions and scheduling doctor visits to her apartment for various illnesses.
Karmity’s father, Christopher Hoeb, 53, also pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and will be sentenced June 11.
In addition to the four-year-old’s diabetes, Karmity also suffered from a condition that caused her teeth to dissolve because her mother fed her exclusively Mountain Dew from a bottle.
A regular 12-ounce can of Mountain Dew contains almost 50 grams of sugar.
Prosecutors added that Karmity was continually fed with bottles long after she should have been weaned from them, and there was no evidence that Banks ever took her to see a dentist.
The lack of medical care was even more shocking because Banks had several neglected and malnourished older children, including a son with undiagnosed diabetes that caused him to fall into a coma.
That son recovered, but prosecutors said Banks still did not help him and never took him to any follow-up meetings at the hospital after he was revived from a coma.
At his sentencing hearing this week, Judge Victor Haddad pointed to his son’s prior condition as a reason he should have known to help Karmity.
“It’s hard to be a good father, but at least mediocre fathers are expected, everyone should expect that,” he told her. “Not knowing what to do is not an excuse.”
The prosecutor condemned Banks for failing to provide Karmity with any medical care while routinely caring for his own.
Surprisingly, Karmity’s online obituary includes a tribute written by Banks and Hoeb, where they spoke of their love for their daughter and wrote that she had a happy childhood despite evidence of abuse and neglect.
“Our beautiful daughter Karmity Faythe Hoeb, who we nicknamed Boogie, which suited her personality because she loved being silly,” the grammatically incorrect obituary read.
‘She also loved looking in the mirror because she knew how beautiful and special she was.
‘Smart and vibrant. The camera loved her almost as much as she loved to smile really big and say cheese. Every day she woke up full of joy and love.
‘Every day he played with his Mickey friends and raced their cars. She touched everyone who ever saw her or spent time with her. She will always be remembered as our daughter, now our guardian angel.”