A mother from Ohio killed her 4-year-old daughter from diabetes and disintegrated her teeth by combining baby formula with Mountain Dew.
Tamara Banks, 41, admitted guilt to involuntary manslaughter in the murder of her daughter Karmity Hoeb in January 2022.
This week, she was sentenced to a minimum of nine years and a maximum of 13.5 years in jail. Christopher Hoeb, 53, the girl’s father, entered a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter as well. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11.
“It’s hard to be a good parent but you expect at least mediocre parents, everybody should expect that,” the judge stated. “Not knowing what to do is not an excuse.”
“I thought I was taking care of her,” Tamara responded.
“Just her overall care was so poor that it resulted in [Karmity’s] death. Her death was absolutely terrible. She also suffered, one of the main indicators we have of this is [Karmity] has what’s called ‘baby bottle caries,'” he stated to Judge. “It’s sort of tooth decay caused by drinking a sugary liquid, usually out of a delivery system, out of a bottle. Well, it turns out this 4-year-old was drinking Mountain Dew out of a bottle every day, so much so that it rotted all of her teeth out.”
The girl had a “serious medical issue” in January 2022, and her mother didn’t call 911 until Karmity turned blue and stopped breathing, according to court documents cited by the Cincinnati Inquirer, which brought attention to the matter.
On January 25, 2022, the little child passed away in a hospital due to a brain injury caused by diabetes and from drinking a sweet beverage through a bottle that disintegrated her teeth. The publication stated that she was never taken to the dentist.
A number of charges, including murder, involuntary manslaughter, and endangering children, led to the parents’ indictment last summer.
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Karmity was described as a joyful girl in her obituary.
“She also loved looking at herself in the mirror because she knew how beautiful and special she was,” the eulogy stated. “Smart and Vibrant. The camera loved her almost as much as she loved smiling real big and saying cheese. Each day she woke up full of joy and love. Every day she was playing with her Mickey buddies and racing her cars. She touched everyone that ever laid eyes on her or spent any time with her. She will always be remembered as our daughter, our guardian angel now.”
