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Woman in starved-kids case hospitalized
NEWARK, New Jersey (CNN) -- The woman taken into custody in connection with the starvation of two children and the death of another has been hospitalized, forcing the postponement of her scheduled arraignment, officials said. Sherry Murphy, 41, was arrested at 1:45 a.m. EST Thursday in Newark, after a days-long nationwide manhunt by police and the FBI. Authorities were told of her whereabouts by a Haitian immigrant who had sheltered her since the weekend. He recognized her from news reports about the case. Newark Mayor Sharpe James identified the tipster as Jean Claude Dessources who contacted police when he decided the picture he saw on television was Murphy. Dessources told police he came forward because he was concerned about the abused children and because he was interested in the $5,000 reward, posted Monday by James. The search for Murphy began Saturday, after Newark police were called to a home to check out a report that two boys were found locked in a basement. The boys, ages 4 and 7, had been starved, beaten and burned. After officers took the boys from the scene, the 7-year-old told police he had a twin brother. Police returned to the basement and found that boy's body in a container. Murphy faces three counts of child endangerment and could face other charges now that one of the cases has been ruled a homicide. She also faces a federal count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Complaints of lightheadednessMurphy was to have been arraigned later Thursday in Essex County Superior Court. She was hospitalized Thursday morning after complaining of lightheadedness, a headache and high blood pressure while homicide detectives questioned her. She was transported to University Hospital in Newark -- the same place where the two surviving boys were admitted. A hospital spokeswoman said the boys were in fair condition, but refused to release any information on Murphy. At a news conference, the mayor said the boys are "normal kids" and are now "happy," despite the fact that they've suffered "long-standing abuse." Because the boys have been so abused, James said, they have bonded closely, and hospital officials are keeping them in the same room. TV raises suspicionsThe mayor said Dessources, the tipster, spotted Murphy near a go-go bar Monday and offered her shelter because she appeared distressed. She introduced herself as "Michelle Williams" and stayed with Dessources for two days, James said. Dessources said he saw the woman's picture on the news and asked her about the case. She denied being the person on television, James said. When Dessources saw the televised picture again on Wednesday he became more suspicious, and asked Murphy to go next door to a cousin's apartment, telling her that his girlfriend was coming. Around midnight Wednesday, Dessources went to police and shared his suspicions with them. Officers went to the cousin's apartment, where they arrested Murphy without incident. In a related development, Joe Reese, the boyfriend of the biological mother of the boys, was arrested and arraigned Wednesday on charges of sexually abusing one of the twins. The judge in Reese's arraignment said a grand jury will review his case. Police said the charges involve allegations of sexual abuse that occurred while the boys were in the custody of their mother, who was living with Reese in Irvington, New Jersey, before the boys moved in with Murphy. The mother, Melissa Williams, left the children with Murphy while Williams was in jail. After the mother was released from jail in August, she claimed she could not find her cousin or the children. After Williams was told the children had been found, she was on her way to see them when she was hit by a car. She is now hospitalized and is in serious condition in New York City. The Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), which was to have been supervising the boys' care, closed their cases instead. That has prompted State Human Services Commissioner Gwendolyn Harris to declare a "state of emergency" in the department and to announce several reforms. The reforms include measures that will not allow caseworkers to close any case if there are allegations of abuse or neglect, will require face-to-face contact with some 280 cases statewide in which abuse allegations have been made but the children have not been seen, and will require "extraordinary investigative measures" to be used to find children in those cases who cannot be located. She is taking action to suspend the DYFS supervisor who authorized the closing of the Williams case last February.
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