The parents of a disabled teenager who died morbidly obese after shocking and persistent neglect and cruel treatment were sentenced to prison for manslaughter in Newtown, Powys, Wales.

Kaylea Titford, who weighed more than 300 pounds, died in October 2020, just a few weeks after turning 16. She was born with hydrocephalus (brain fluid buildup) and spina bifida (a spinal disorder that prevented her from using her legs).

According to the court, she was discovered dead in a filthy bed, surrounded by trash, with maggots “eating on her flesh” and flies buzzing above her head.

Kaylea’s parents’ disregard for her basic needs, particularly her nutrition and hygiene, was considered murder. According to the judge, the parents did not make a mistake, and criminal negligence occurred over a prolonged period of time.

It is the first time that parents have been charged with murder in the United Kingdom for failing to manage their child’s nutrition and care. Kaylea’s parents, Alun Titford, 45, and Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 40, ignored their daughter’s pleas for help and support and spent more than $1,200 on take-out and soda in the three months leading up to her death.

When asked why he had failed Kaylea so badly, her father simply stated, “I’m lazy.”

Lloyd-Jones, the court heard, turned down numerous offers of medical support in the months leading up to Kaylea’s death.

Kaylea would yell for help, but the court discovered that her parents would text her to tell her to stop talking. The adolescent girl apparently wrote her mother a series of heartfelt letters in which she begged for help cleaning her “leaking legs” and getting rid of flies swarming all over her. Lloyd-Jones responded with a dismissive, “For f*** sake.” 

The jury found Alun Titford, 45, guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. He received a sentence of seven and a half years in prison. In December, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 40, pleaded guilty to the same charge. She received a six-year prison sentence.