POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A couple is charged in the death of their 3-year-old boy, in a case the Polk County Sheriff called the worst abuse case he has seen.

Sheriff Grady Judd said Friday that 24-year-old Takesha Williams and 25-year-old Efrem Allen are charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child.

Investigators said the boy nearly drowned in 2020 and that essentially left him brain dead. The parents were caring for him at home, Judd said.

First responders last week were called about the child being unresponsive.

When they arrived, according to Judd, the boy was hooked up to a ventilator but did not have a pulse.

The boy was taken to a hospital, where injuries discovered included numerous open sores and a bloated stomach.

"They let this baby rot and die in its bed,” Judd said. “I've done this for five decades. I have seen thousands of children abused, hundreds of children murdered at the hands of their parents.

“I have never seen the horror that we saw with this poor child at the hands of these two folks."

Officials say there were two other children in the home, a 2-year-old and a 10-month old.

Both are healthy, Judd said, and are now in the custody of DCF.