Mother Charged With Neglect in Death of 15-Pound Teenager

A woman was jailed on suspicion of child neglect after bringing her emaciated 15-year-old daughter to an emergency room, where the girl was pronounced dead. Officials said she weighed barely 15 pounds.

Karen Kuffer, 50, was in the Rock County jail Friday pending a court hearing, said police Chief George Brunner. Police charged her with child neglect and recommended that prosecutors file formal charges.

The woman brought her daughter, Kay Kuffer, to Mercy Hospital Wednesday night. The girl was pronounced dead on arrival, Brunner said. Hospital officials told police the girl, who suffered from cerebral palsy, weighed 15 pounds, 1 ounce.

Hospital officials declined to comment, referring all questions to police.

Investigators believe the girl was dead when she was brought to the hospital.

Susan Nitzke, an associate professor of nutritional science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the child’s weight was hard to believe. “I said, ‘Somebody must have made a mistake,’ ” Nitzke said. “That’s definitely just an amazingly low body weight for someone of that age.”

The girl’s grandmother said she was about the size of a 6-year-old child. For a 6-year-old, the low end of normal weight is about 35 pounds, Nitzke said. For a 15-year-old, that weight is about 85 pounds.

Police said the mother told them the girl never weighed more than 23 pounds.