FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The prolonged starvation of 7-year-old Deonte Atwell was a case of “willful torture,” a prosecutor said Thursday, and the culprit was his own mother.

Michelle Doe, 37, was ordered held without bond on a charge of first-degree murder after Assistant State Attorney Melissa Kelly reminded the judge of the heart-wrenching facts of the case.

Deonte lived with thoracic spina bifida and hydrocephalus, a condition that left him in need of constant medical care. When paramedics arrived at his Fort Lauderdale home last Christmas, two days after he turned 7, they found him dead, weighing just 7 pounds.

People with spina bifida frequently live to be adults and can have fulfilling lives with the right care, according to experts. Police said Deonte’s life expectancy was 20-40 years. He was non-verbal and could not walk.

In court Wednesday and again Thursday, Kelly described Deonte’s death as preventable, faulting his caregivers for failing to see he was wasting away over a period of several months.

Doe is facing multiple charges in connection with Deonte’s death, including aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and neglect of two older sons, ages 9 and 16. Bail on those charges was set at $100,000 each, but she will remain in custody unless a later judge sets bail on the murder charge.

Doe is due back in court Thursday afternoon for a dependency hearing on the minor children.

Deonte’s older brother, Tyreck Irvin, 21, is also charged with murder and aggravated manslaughter, and their grandfather, James Graham, 70, is charged with aggravated manslaughter, neglect and failure to report neglect.

Two medical care providers have also been charged in the case. Cassandre Lassegue, 33, a registered nurse who was supposed to provide in-home care for Deonte, is charged with first-degree murder, felony third-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and Medicaid fraud.

And Mirlande Moltimer, 47, owner of Samaritin Home Health Care, is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, felony third-degree murder and Medicaid fraud.

The fraud charges are for billing Medicaid for services investigators say were not received.

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