Mother Arrested For Starving Twins In Yakima

The Yakima County Prosecutors office has charged a Yakima mother, Kai Martinez with first-degree criminal mistreatment and second-degree assault of a child. They say she locked up her daughters in a room, without food, for weeks. Two twin 8-year-old girls were found abused and weighing less than forty pounds in a duplex on North 9th Street in Yakima on February 6. Court documents show that officers found the girls after Martinez's aunt contacted Yakima Police.  Officers found Martinez hiding in a closet in the duplex. Martinez told officers she knew the girls were malnourished, but she felt no maternal bond toward them. The girls had been in foster care most of their lives; they had just been released back to Martinez in December of 2013. According to family members the girls are doing better, they're currently being treated at Harborview in Seattle and they're expected to make a full recovery.