PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. -- The death of a 15-month-old girl led police to arrest a Gwinnett County man on a number of charges, including felony murder, aggravated sodomy and incest.
The child, Alcenti Mcintosh, passed away Tuesday. She was brought to Northside Hospital in Fulton County by her father, 44-year-old Calvin Mcintosh, and was pronounced dead there. Medical personnel determined Alcenti Mcintosh was neglected and abused. An autopsy ruled starvation as the cause of death. She weighed 7 pounds, police said.
Gwinnett County Police investigated Calvin Mcintosh's home at the Extended Stay America hotel in the 7000 block of Jimmy Carter Boulevard, where they found his 23-year-old daughter Najlaa and three children, ages 5, 3 and 3. Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter said all three children were severely malnourished.
Police found another person in the hotel room, 21-year-old Iasia Sweeting. When officers arrived, Sweeting was wrapped in a blanket and lying on the floor near death; Ritter said she weighed only 59 pounds. Sweeting, who had been reported missing after she ran away in 2010, couldn't move or talk. Police said she was being punished for unknown reasons.
An investigation determined Calvin Mcintosh fathered Alcenti Mcintosh and another one of the children with Sweeting. He fathered the other two children with his biological daughter Najlaa. Ritter said Calvin Mcintosh ordered Najlaa to deprive Sweeting and the children of food if they were disobedient.
"The 21-year-old female, who was still alive, was transported to the hospital, in need of desperate medical care," said Ritter. "She's still in the hospital at this time. She's unable to speak with investigators at this time."
Calvin Mcintosh, her common-law husband, was charged with the murder of the baby, as well as other crimes, including cruelty to a physically-disabled adult, rape, incest, aggravated sodomy and second degree cruelty to children.
Najlaa Mcintosh is also charged with murder and abuse. She told police her father was also the father of her two children.
While executing a search warrant on the hotel room, police uncovered literature and notes about the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, an Islam-based cult known for being a sovereign group. The group had previously been located in a compound in Putnam County, near Eatonton. The group's leader, Dwight "Malachi" York, is currently serving a 135-year sentence at the federal Supermax prison in Colorado. Among the charges York was convicted of is child molestation.
Police said the children at the hotel were indoctrinated to the point where they could watch their siblings starve.
"Their demeanor when they were interviewed and when they were in court is that this is normal everyday life for them. It was accepted," Ritter said. "Well, according to our laws, it's not accepted, and it resulted in the death of the 15-month-old."
Police said the oldest child, a 5-year-old, had been on DFCS radar several years ago, but the family then moved to Virginia for a time. When they returned to Georgia, all of the other children were born out of the hospital, with no birth certificates.
Both suspects are being held without bond in the Gwinnett County Jail.
The three surviving children were taken into DFCS custody, and Sweeting is in serious condition at an area hospital.
