A Wisconsin mother has been sentenced to eight years in prison after her newborn son starved to death when she refused to feed him baby formula. Taryn L. Strait, 22, pleaded guilty to felony child neglect in connection with the February 2024 death of her three-week-old son, Dev’Kumar Keys. The child’s father and Strait’s boyfriend, 27-year-old De’Varius D. Keys, has also pleaded guilty to the same charge and will be sentenced on November 20.
Dev’Kumar died on February 1, 2024, inside the couple’s apartment. An autopsy showed the infant weighed just five pounds, more than a pound less than his birth weight, and died from starvation and dehydration. Investigators said Strait and Keys fed Dev’Kumar almond milk instead of formula because Strait believed baby formula contained lead.
She told police she had seen online videos showing people “putting magnets into baby formula and pulling out lead,” and refused to give her son any. She also told investigators she struggled to produce breast milk. On the night Dev’Kumar died, Strait said she last checked on him around 2:30 a.m. and noticed he “did not appear OK,” describing his face as blue.
When she picked him up, he went limp. Rather than calling 911, the couple chose to drive him to the hospital because they were worried about ambulance costs. Doctors were unable to save him. Medical records show Dev’Kumar saw a doctor shortly after birth, and staff were already worried about his low weight. They instructed the parents to feed him every two hours and scheduled a follow-up appointment. Strait and Keys never returned and ignored several calls and messages from the clinic, per local NBC affiliate WJFW.
Dane County Child Protective Services was alerted to the concerns and attempted to contact the couple. The agency left messages but never heard back and eventually closed the case, saying there was “insufficient evidence to substantiate neglect.”
In court, Strait cried as she apologized, saying her actions were wrong and that her son’s death “will have a lot of impact” on her for the rest of her life. Circuit Judge Nicholas McNamara said he struggled to understand Strait’s “selfishness,” noting that she ordered food and had sex with her boyfriend while her infant was starving nearby.
Keys remains in custody as he awaits sentencing.
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