Take like on a nine one one.

What's okay?

So earned.

Oak Street, I'm sorry, Oak yep?

Is that a house?

Your apartment?

It's a house, all right?

And what is your name Hill Mason?

And what's going on there?

Well, the last couple of days, as old our my husband and I are five year old has been you know, rebelling against food.

She said, you know, she wasn't gonna eat anymore.

We went through this with our other child and got her turn back around.

Right now, she is not she's not even.

It's a kid five.

I just gave her a bath and she's not even.

She's not even coherent.

It doesn't even look like she's breathing right now.

Okay, So this is more of a medical issue, then No, I don't in my personal oping, I don't think it's a medical issue.

We went through this.

With our other daughter.

Was just rebelling against food, certain food.

If it's not what they want, they won't eat.

I see.

So, and it's she's taken it a little too far.

She's taken it to the extreme.

We've been giving her plenty of fluid if she's not gonna eat, you know, but she can't.

She's been someone around the house.

Who've tried a lot.

Nothing seems to be working right now.

It doesn't look like she's believing.

My husband's got her in the kitchen right now, trying to give her, you know, like the CPR.

He said, it sounds but she's got flood in her lungs.

But okay, I'm freaking out.

I'm sorry.

Okay, we'll get help over to you.

Okay, thank you so much.

No, correct, yes, yes, all right, thank you, bye, thank you.

On May twenty sixth, twenty fifteen, Hillary Mason called nine one one and made the strangest report I've ever heard.

She said that her five year old stepdaughter, Mackenzie Mason was quote rebelling against food.

She described giving her a bath and the girl being incoherent before finally saying she wasn't breathing.

But when the operator asked if it was a medical emergency, Hillary responded that she didn't think it was a medical issue.

In what world is a five year old child not breathing not a medical issue?

It's like, she called nine one one and is unsure of why she called nine one one, But a child isn't breathing, so it should be really fucking obvious.

Why she called nine one one.

Then, after complaining about the girl rebelling against food some more, she casually mentioned that her husband was giving Mackenzie CPR.

The operator, who was likely very confused, sent paramedics to the home right away.

They likely assumed that the girl had choked on some food, but when first responders arrived, it was clear that food had not been something the girl had experienced much of Prior to the incident, Andrew and Hillary Mason had not been married long, but they were caring for Andrew's two daughters from a prior relationship, five year old Mackenzie and three year old Michaela, whose mother was Shelby Coffee.

Shelby had lost custody of the children about two years prior when she was sent to jail for a domestic disturbance.

She said she had tried to visit the girls after her release, but was either told they weren't home or that she wasn't allowed to see them.

Hillary had two children of her own living with the couple, who were between the ages of five and eleven.

They lived in a house and port here on Michigan, about sixty miles or ninety six kilometers northeast of downtown Detroit.

There was an issue raised later about the first nine one one operator not staying on the phone with Hillary until the first responders arrived.

It was later determined that that did not cause any delay in paramedics arriving on the scene.

Still, Hillary called nine one one back to check on the status of the first responders.

Nine one one, what's okation of your emergency?

Oak Street?

I just made a call and I'm just wondering when somebody's going to be here.

Okay, got me find your call here.

Okay, we have help on the way.

Anything changed.

She's not moving okay.

Is she breathing?

We don't think she's breathing.

Okay.

I needed to get right next to her in check.

Okay.

My husband Britner to her.

He's trying on her book.

Okay.

Is she laying flat on the floor.

She's laying flat on the floor.

Yes.

Oh, they're on their way.

They are on their way.

Okay.

Was she eating something?

No, she's been rebelling against food lately.

It's not what she wants.

She won't eat it.

Okay, And it's not awake.

She's she asked me, She asked me.

She's not eating There Okay, I try to think her a bath.

See if they would, hope, we'll be giving her plenty of food.

But it's not.

Okay, is she Is she awake right now?

No?

I didn't even put she's I mean theyre.

Okay, okay, let me get some help for you.

Okay.

Okay, do you hear that?

Do you hear them?

Yes?

I do.

Okay.

So she's flat on the floor.

You're right by her now.

I'm outside my whole loving yeah, and so I'm.

Doing CPR her, yes, okay, yep.

Have her keep going until they're right next door.

Okay.

Let me know when they're right there with you.

Okay, okay, just pull up right now.

Yep.

Let me know when they see you, when you're with you.

And I'm standing up on the road, so okay, okay.

Thank you so much, somebody, no PUNDI, yep.

Let them Are they there with you?

Yes, they're here.

Okay, I'll let you go all thank you, yees bye.

She was really hammering home the detail that Mackenzie was quote rebelling against food.

He really feels like they starved the girl to death and decided to call nine one one with this story that Mackenzie starved herself to death.

That operator did stay on the line until the paramedics arrived.

They usually do so as to report any changes in any one's condition before the police or paramedics arrive.

Now, when the paramedics showed up to the Mason's house, it was immediately clear they were not responding to a choking child.

The girl was wrapped in a blanket and she had no pulse.

She was pale and extremely thin.

When she was eventually weighed, she was only twenty five pounds or about eleven kilograms.

A healthy five year old girl weighs about forty pounds or eighteen kilograms on average.

She was rushed to the hospital but pronounced dead once there.

Her younger sister, Michayla, was only seventeen pounds or a little less than eight kilograms.

A healthy three year old girl weighs about thirty pounds or thirteen and a half kilograms on average.

Mikayla was also admitted to the hospital, where she ended up recovering.

Witnesses testify that Hillary's two biological children were at the house at the time of the call, and they looked perfectly healthy.

That's not uncommon during cases of philicide where a parent or stetf parent causes the death of a child.

One of the stepparents in the relationship make sure their own kids get taken care of while the other children get neglected.

It's likely that Hillary was the dominant one in the relationship, but that's just speculation.

It was immediately clear that Mackenzie's death was not an accident.

She had been starved over a long period of time.

Not only that, but an autopsy revealed that it was possible that the girl had been dead for hours prior to the nine one one call.

They found that Mackenzie had been suffering from pneumonia at the time of her death and had an infection in her genitalia.

There was no evidence of sexual assault presented, but the infection was used during sentencing to highlight the pain in suffering the victim experienced.

Andrew and Hillary pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, torture, and child abuse.

Their lawyer claimed that they did not starve the children, claiming they were just picky eaters.

That was contradicted by the fact that Michaela nearly doubled her weight in the six months since her sister's death.

At the beginning of twenty sixteen, The girl weighed thirty pounds or thirteen and a half kilograms.

The foster family she lived with said she had no problem eating and putting on weight.

Obviously, she was not so picky that it would have been hard to maintain a healthy way to fed properly.

At the end of January twenty sixteen, Andrew and Hillary Mason were found guilty of first degree felony murder and first degree child abuse.

They were both sentenced to life in prison.

It seemed that this was not an isolated incident for the Masons, though.

On February nineteenth, twenty eighteen, three year old Matthew Mason was found dead in his bed at the home of his mother, Amanda Mason and her boyfriend Maurice Whole.

An autopsy concluded that Matthew's death was a homicide, likely resulting from blunt force trauma.

Amanda was Andrew Mason's sister, and it seemed that the pair had grown into some of the world's worst parents.

Amanda and Maurice, who were no longer dating by then, weren't arrested until April of twenty twenty five.

Though it's unclear why there was a delay, but there was a protest carried out by Matthew's grandparents in an effort to make the arrest happen.

In court, it was revealed that someone had witnessed Maurice hit Matthew with a croquet stick, and despite the person reporting the incident, Maurice was never arrested.

Child Protective Services did become involved at that point, but that clearly didn't do much good.

Amanda admitted to police that she locked the child up without food and suffocated him with a pillow as punishment.

She also admitted having hit the boy's head into a wall hard enough that it broke the dry wall.

People who knew the couple said that they believed they killed the boy in order to make room for a new child they were planning to have together.

Their trial is ongoing and if found guilty, they could each face life in prison.

Maurice is also charged with assaulting an officer slash resisting arrest because of course, he is Shelby Coffee went through parent reunification courses and regained custody of Mikaela in November of twenty fifteen.

In both cases, it seems like the parents didn't want to care for their children, but refuse to let anyone else care for them either.

Shelby Coffee wanted to care for her daughters, and Matthew Mason's grandparents offered to take care of him before his death.

It's unimaginable that there are people who would rather see their own children abused or dead than being cared for by someone else.

That's a level of control that's usually only desired by monsters.

If you're the victim of domestic abuse, please reach out to someone for help.

Please talk to your local shelter, Call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at one eight hundred seven nine ninth safe that's one eight hundred seven nine nine seven two three three, or you can go to the hotline dot org to chat with someone online.

If you're having feelings of harming yourself or someone else, or even just need someone to talk to, please contact your local mental health facility call nine one one, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline by simply dialing nine eight eight in the United States.

They're available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and we'll talk to you about any mental health issue you might be facing.

If you're a member of the LGBTQ plus community and suffering from discrimination, depression, or are in need of any support.

Please contact the LGBT National Hotline at one eight eight eight eight four three four five six four, or go to LGBT Hotline dot org.

Thanks so much for letting me tell you this story.

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