A Johnston County mother has been indicted by a grand jury on negligent child abuse charges following the death of her severely handicapped son last year.
On August 6th, 2015, Johnston County deputies and Four Oaks EMS workers responded to a home in the 7000 block of Highway 301 South near Four Oaks. Inside they found the body of a 7 year-old bedridden child.
Authorities said the blind child had multiple medical issues including a brain injury and was unable to speak. First responders said they found signs of “extreme neglect, including unsanitary conditions” along with dried feces on the boy’s body. What appeared to be a severe injury to the genital area was later determined to be extreme diaper rash, authorities said.
Officials said the boy’s mother, 35 year-old Donna Mae Sulpizio had air conditioning in the section of the home where she lived but in her son’s bedroom the temperature was approximately 95 degrees when his lifeless body was discovered.
Three other children were living in the home at the time the 7 year-old died. Those children were placed in the custody of social workers.
Suplizio, who is currently living on Godwin Lake Road outside of Benson, was located Sunday by a deputy during the traffic stop in southern Johnston County. During the stop she allegedly gave a fictitious name. She was initially arrested under the fictitious name but her real identity was later discovered and a warrant charging her with negligent child abuse causing serious injury was served.
Her bond was set at $130,000 on the child abuse charge plus an additional $40,000 for identity theft for giving a fictitious name.
Sulpizio has several other traffic-related charges pending in court. Among those are four separate charges for driving on a revoked license. She failed to appear in court on three of the charges in July. The fourth is set for court this Friday along with a citation for driving with an expired vehicle registration.
