Daniel Ash and Amber Murphy pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder in the starvation death of their 2-year-old son, Charles Wayne Ash.
The couple entered their pleas in federal court in Oklahoma. Ash pleaded guilty on May 7 and Murphy on May 8, according to court records. Their son weighed only 17 pounds when he died on Sept. 11, 2024, at Integris Baptist Regional Health Center in Miami, Oklahoma. An autopsy found severe muscle wasting, dehydration, and anemia, with no record of medical care since his birth in July 2022.