Child Dies of Thirst Related to Odd Punishment By Parents

Sick and disturbing story out of Dallas where a 10 year old boy died last month as a result of dehydration. As a form of punishment the boy was denied water by his father and step mother, who were taken into police custody after the boys cause of death was discovered.

Initially it appeared that the 10 year old boy suffered a heat related illness, due to extreme temperatures in the Dallas area and the home only having one window unit for cooling. After investigation of the parents it was revealed that they made the boy stand in one area for lengthy periods of time, denying him hydration. It took five days for the 10 year old to die from dehydration and exhaustion.

It absolutely astonishes me that a single person could create such a sick and twisted punishment for any human being, much less a child. This scenario is worsened by the fact that not one, but two individuals stood aside as a child suffered in this horrible, slow fashion. How? How did neither of these adults pause to think that this may be too extreme, maybe this cruel and unusual punishment should be stopped?

Moreover, I wonder what exactly the little boy was being punished for. Not that there would ever be any act that could warrant such punishment--I just wonder what actions in the twisted minds of these parents, deserved or could be corrected by such punishment.