Parents accused of abusing infant, leaving kids without food

Marion, N.C., parents are facing charges after deputies say their 3-month-old daughter was admitted to a hospital with broken and displaced bones. The baby also reportedly suffered from an infection.

McDowell County deputies have charged the baby's parents, Timothy Alan Buchanan, 28, and Amanda Jo Johnston, 26, both of Burma Road West in Marion with one count each of felony intentional child abuse inflicting severe physical injury. They couple is also charged with two counts of misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. 

Buchanan and Johnston are the parents of a 3-month-old daughter and two other girls – ages 7 and 8 – also live in the home, according to deputies. 

A McDowell County sheriff's detective said the baby was admitted on July 25 to Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville with a displaced leg bone, healing breaks in both arms, as well as MRSA, an infection caused by a strain of staph bacteria that's resistant to antibiotic drugs. 

Deputies say the couple had been leaving all the children at home by themselves for long periods of time with little or no food.

"The baby was underdeveloped for her age, and she tested positive for multiple narcotics at birth," Detective Paul Alkire said in a written statement.