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Couple pleads guilty in dehydration death of son

The parents of an 18-month-old boy who died of dehydration have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

WYOMING, Mich. — A Wyoming couple has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after the dehydration death of their 18-month-old son. 

Andrea Todd and Alexander Birkenmeyer pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree child abuse on Monday. Prosecutors reached a deal that will make Todd eligible for parole after 16 years. Birkenmeyer's minimum sentence is 20 years.

Yurik Birkenmeyer was found dead at a home in Wyoming back in March 2018. He was just 22 pounds, his eyes were sunken into his face and skin tented due to lack of fluids in his system. 

During a previous trial, Kent County forensic pathologist Dr. David Start testified that he was not sure how long the Yurik had been dehydrated but it did not happen overnight. 

RELATED: Death of Wyoming infant with sunken eyes and tented skin spurs trial

Yurik was found in a nearly 90 degree room and had a wound on the back of his head consisted with being up against a surface, like a mattress, for an extended period of time.

According to the Associated Press, Yurik had been in foster care for 10 months after a child-welfare investigator was concerned for his care. But the child was returned to his parents in the fall of 2017.

Yurik's death comes almost three years after the couple lost a two-month-old daughter to what investigators called an "unsafe sleep condition." No charges were filed in that case.

Todd gave birth to another child while in custody awaiting trial. That child is currently in foster care.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

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