How is this possible?

I can't begin to fathom mistreating my children. I heard about this court case on the radio today and thought I'd be sick.

Testimony: Boy starved while others ate
By NATHANIEL JONES
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH — Davontae Williams lived in an east Arlington apartment with two younger siblings, his mother and her lover. The apartment had pantry full of food and a refrigerator loaded with gallons of ice cream and frozen meat.
Everyone in the medium-sized apartment ate, except 9-year-old Davontae, prosecutors said today during opening statements in the capital murder trial of Lisa Ann Coleman. Coleman, 33, is accused of participating in the beating, kidnapping and starvation of her lover’s son.
Paramedics found the boy’s lifeless body July 26, 2004, on the bathroom floor wearing only a diaper. Davontae weighed less than a healthy 3-year-old, according to testimony.
He had been starved to death, prosecutors said.
If convicted of capital murder, Coleman could face the death penalty. The case is before state District Judge Everett Young.
Coleman’s defense attorney, Michael Heiskell, contends his client did not live with the Williams family and that Davontae was a victim of incompetent parenting.
Marcella Williams, the boy’s mother, also faces a capital murder charge. Her trial is to be held later.
Prosecutors detailed for the jury the bruises and scars found on Davontae’s body. The wounds, both fresh and old showed that the child had been tied-up and beaten in the weeks preceding his death, Assistant District Attorney Mitch Poe said.
Some jurors appeared stunned as they listened to Poe described the injuries.
“... There was not an inch of skin on his body that hadn’t been bruised or scarred,” Poe said.
He added that one of Davontae’s ears had been almost “knocked off,” most likely by golf club.
Davontae’s death was among several neglect cases that led to sweeping changes at Child Protective Services.

Below is the pre-trial story. You can see what heartless bitches look like, too.

The fate of a woman accused in the starvation death of a 9-year-old Arlington boy may rest on her attorney's ability to prove that she was not responsible for the child's care, an expert trial lawyer said.
Testimony in the capital-murder trial of Lisa Ann Coleman, 30, is expected to begin Wednesday in Fort Worth.
Coleman and her partner, Marcella Williams, are accused in the death of Williams' son Davontae Williams. The boy's malnourished, bruise-covered body was found inside his mother's apartment in July 2004. He weighed less than a healthy 3-year-old, officials said.
His death was among several neglect cases that led to sweeping changes at Child Protective Services.
Prosecutors will probably argue that Coleman actively participated in Davontae's abuse, said Larry Moore, a former president of the Tarrant County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Coleman has pleaded not guilty.
The defense may try to show that Coleman was not the primary caregiver and was not at fault in Davontae's starving death, Moore said.
"What obligation does she have to feed someone else's children? It may be a moral issue, but it's not capital murder," he said.
Defense attorneys will find it hard to persuade the jury to separate the case's horrific details from the law, Moore said.
"It's a terrible crime, and the jury wants to strike out [at] any and everyone associated with the death," he said.
Coleman could be sentenced to death if convicted. Her attorney, Michael Heiskell, declined to discuss his defense strategy.
"We will aggressively defend her against these allegations in order to prove this is not a capital murder case," he said.
Prosecutors could not be reached for comment. Williams, 25, faces a capital-murder trial later.
Davontae weighed 35.8 pounds when he died, according to officials. Based on his injuries and witnesses' statements, police said they believe that Davontae was sometimes put in restraints or locked in a pantry.
CPS had investigated Williams six times on allegations of neglect and had removed Davontae and a sibling from their home for more than a year. The agency returned the children to their mother after she completed classes in parenting, anger management and communication, according to court documents. The investigation was dropped in 2001 after the family moved and could not be found.
In October 2004, state officials ordered an audit of CPS, citing several high-profile deaths and the agency's own data, which showed that more than 500 Texas children died from abuse or neglect during a 2 1/2 year period ending in 2004. About one-quarter of those children's families had been investigated by the agency.
The audit found that caseworkers were overloaded and that many were undertrained. In 2005, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 6, which boosted the CPS budget by nearly $250 million, allowing the agency to add 1,500 caseworkers.
The bill also called for improved caseworkers' training, closer working relationships between investigators and local law-enforcement agencies, more support staff to handle paperwork and administrative duties, and better reporting techniques to document abuse cases and help officials intervene faster.
"We're hiring a lot of people, mostly professional caseworkers, and that's going very well," said Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services.
"We can definitely feel caseloads lowering."

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I love this woman's defense: she wasn't the primary caregiver. Well, that makes it ok. So, my husband shouldn't get upset or be concerned if I start starving the children. He would be absolved of responsibility since I'm the primary caregiver. Bullshit. If she lived there and partnered in the upbringing of her girlfriend's kids, she is responsible. Plus, how can you "love" someone who would treat their own flesh and blood worse than an animal? These women are doomed. I imagine there are some mean women in prison who love their children and would give anything to be out in the free world and with them. I doubt they'll think too highly of these gals.