Boy found dead in house of horror

A seven-year-old boy’s body was found in a plastic bin, a day after his two brothers were found alive but starving in a locked room in the same house in New Jersey.

Police were today searching for the woman in whose care the children had been left several months ago.

The dead boy, Faheem Williams, had been dead for weeks when he was found, said Edward Gordon of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Faheem’s twin brother, Raheem, and another brother, Tyrone, four, were being treated for starvation and dehydration. Both were in fair condition today, said a spokesman.

Several months ago, the children’s mother left them in the care of a woman named Sherry Murphy in Newark, authorities said.

The mother is believed to have been in a New York hospital since being hit by a car.

Sheriff Armando Fontoura said they were also were seeking information on the whereabouts of two or three other children connected to Murphy, although he wasn’t sure of their relationship to her.

Gordon said Murphy’s boyfriend, Shawn Slappy, found the surviving boys while looking for work boots in the basement.

Slappy, 31, told police he had been living in the house for two weeks and knew nothing about the children, Gordon said.

Police only found Faheem’s body after one of the other boys told police at the hospital that his brother had been missing for weeks, Gordon said.

Neighbour Debra Barnes, 44, said she had never exchanged a greeting with Murphy since moving in two months ago and had never seen the three boys. However, she said she saw a 12 or 13-year-old girl about two weeks ago who referred to Murphy as “mom.”

“That’s the only child I’ve seen with her,” Barnes said.

Barnes said Murphy looked well-kept but was not friendly and usually seemed angry.