Florida parents plead no contest as hospital staff describe starved twin: ‘You can see every bone in his body’

A Florida father has pleaded no contest to child neglect after his 5-month-old twins were hospitalized severely malnourished and dehydrated, authorities said.

Leroy Somersall III, 24, had been living with his family in an RV, according to investigators.

Somersall entered his plea Thursday to two counts of neglect of a child causing great bodily harm, court records show.

The twins’ mother, 24-year-old Madison Smith, previously pleaded no contest to the same child neglect charges on April 29, records show.

Smith has already been sentenced to serve 45 months in prison, authorities said.

The investigation began on January 6, when the parents brought their 5-month-old son and daughter to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

Medical staff discovered that both babies were severely malnourished and dehydrated, according to investigators.

Each infant weighed approximately 5.7 pounds upon arrival at the hospital, police said.

Both babies weighed less than they had at birth, according to authorities. In particular, investigators noted that the baby girl had weighed more than 5.7 pounds when she was born.

The twins had been born approximately one month premature, medical personnel noted. However, medical staff determined their physical condition at five months old was cause for serious concern, according to the report.

Hospital staff reportedly described the little boy’s appearance in particularly disturbing terms, saying he was so malnourished that “you can see every bone in his body.”

The parents finally sought medical attention after realizing their infant son had become unresponsive, Smith told investigators.

Detectives then began examining how the infants had been fed, police said.

A pediatrician had previously instructed the parents to give the twins approximately 70 to 80 milliliters of formula every two hours, Smith told investigators.

However, the mother reportedly acknowledged that she had not spoken with the pediatrician since September 2025, when the twins were newborns.

Both parents allegedly told investigators they did not realize the amount of food needed to increase as the babies grew.

The couple also reportedly offered another explanation for the twins’ extremely thin appearance, according to police.

Because Somersall himself was thin, the parents allegedly believed the babies were simply naturally thin as well, investigators said.

Detectives subsequently searched the RV where the family had been living, police said.

Investigators found no baby formula inside the residence, according to authorities.

Doctors at the hospital expected both children to survive, medical personnel reported.

However, authorities warned that the severity of the malnutrition may have caused neurological damage, and the children’s long-term prognosis was not immediately clear.

Smith is currently serving her 45-month prison sentence, records show.

Somersall, having now pleaded no contest to two counts of child neglect causing great bodily harm, is scheduled to be sentenced on October 1.