Couple Charged After 2-Year-Old Boy Suffocates While Left Unattended In Makeshift Cage

A Detroit-area couple is accused of keeping a 2-year-old boy in a makeshift cage where he suffocated to death after being left unattended for 16 hours, according to authorities.

The boy's father Matthew James Luke, 35, and stepmother Jamie Lynn Starr, 34, were charged Saturday with second-degree murder in death of Devin Bisesi, who was found dead in his father's home on March 12, 2018, according to a statement from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors said the couple had created a cage for the boy using a "pack and play" playpen with a gate on the top, so he was unable to get out.

According to a Child Protective Services report obtained by WDIV, Besisi had been left alone for about 16 hours before being found unresponsive. When EMTs arrrived at 4:56 p.m. on March 12, the boy was "cold to the touch," prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said he died from asphyxiation.

A spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office told Oxygen.com prosecutors were not releasing information about what the couple was doing while the child was unattended, but said more details are expected to be released at an upcoming probable cause hearing.

After Luke and Starr discovered the boy was not breathing, police allege that the couple removed the boy from the play pen and cleaned up before calling 911, according to WXYZ.

Following the indictment, the boy's mother, Jessica Bisesi said she had conflicting feelings about the charges.

"My honest reaction is relieved that justice is coming, but also very mixed emotions for my ex-husband," she told WDIV. "He is my child's dad and I know that he did love Devin."

Luke and Starr are both being held without bond, prosecutors said. Their next scheduled appearance is a probable cause conference on Oct. 2.

[Photos: Wayne County Prosecutor's Office]