Four arrested in starvation death of 9-year-old Indiana boy

FONTANET, Ind. –– Police in Indiana are describing the starvation, neglect and eventual death of a disabled 9-year-old boy as “beyond terrible” and are now investigating the case as a homicide. 

Calling it “the most terrible thing I’ve seen in my life,” Vigo County Sheriff Greg Ewing announced Wednesday that four people have been arrested in the death of Cameron R. Hoopingarner.

The child weighed less than 15 pounds when he died, the sheriff said.

Early Tuesday monrning, the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department and other emergency personnel responded to a 911 call reporting the cardiac arrest of a child in rural Indiana. Hoopingarner was taken to a hospital in nearby Terre Haute, Indiana, and was later pronounced dead.

Police arrested Chad Allen Kraemer, 33, Hubert A. Kraemer, 56, Robin Lee Kraemer, 53, and Sarah Beth Travioli, 30, all of the same address where Hoopingarner was living. None of them are directly related to the child.

Hubert A. Kraemer and Robin Lee Kraemer, the child’s guardians, were charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and neglect of a dependent.

Ewing said Hoopingarner, who was bedridden and never enrolled in school, had cerebral palsy and was blind. 

Robin Kraemer’s father, Larry Niece, said publicly his daughter was taking care of Hoopingarner for her friend and had been the child’s guardian since he was three days old. Niece said the child’s mother was on drugs, which caused Hoopingarner’s disabilities and her reason for giving him away. 

“They were going to put the baby in an asylum, but my daughter decided to take and raise it. She raised him for nine years and took care of him,” he said.

Niece also claimed doctors in Indianapolis removed feeding tubes about a year ago. “So they fed him with straws, syringes. I don’t know why the doctors took them (the feeding tubes) out.”

Niece’s statements are unconfirmed by officials.

“I just wanted to say that in my 26 years in this office, the pictures that I saw of Cameron and his condition were terrible, beyond terrible,” said Ewing.

Chad Kraemer and Travioli were charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony; neglect of a dependent, a Level 3 felony; and failure to report child neglect, a Class B misdemeanor.

“He was 9 years old, and he weighed just under 15 pounds. Essentially, in my opinion, he was starved to death. And tonight we have brought these four individuals to justice,” Ewing said.

Lead detective Jason Fischer said all four were unemployed. The sheriff said the arrests were made without resistance. Ewing said he was unaware of Hoopingarner’s presence at the house until Tuesday.

Two other children — ages 5 and 3, belonging to Chad Kraemer and Travioli — were removed from the house by the Department of Child Services.

“It makes me mad that somebody could do this to a child, let alone a child that has physical handicaps and is blind, who was given to a guardian to take care of,” Ewing said. “And this is how he gets treated? This is what he deserves? To be starved to death? What kind of animals are they?”

Niece said the accusations are false and Shane Goda, a relative, said he saw Hoopingarner being fed and taken care of every day.

“I think it was his disability that caused this,” Goda said. “Cameron was severely physically handicapped and it is hard to care for someone like that. It takes a special person, but they were always by his side.”

Family friend, Joe Emmons, 27, said he had also seen Robin Kraemer take care of the child for 9 years.

“It doesn’t take nine years to die. I don’t think this is right,” Emmons said.

Court records show that Hoopingarner had not been taken to the doctor in over a year, and the rural house where the child lived had “a very small amount of food” for him to eat, investigators reported. Robin Kraemer told police that Hoopingarner did not have a current doctor.

The boy had been sick with flu for several days, she said, so she treated him with over-the-counter cough medicine and melatonin to help him sleep.

A nurse stated that the boy weighed 14.8 pounds and was 36 inches long.

An Indiana Department of Child Services spokesperson said he cannot comment on whether or not Hoopingarner, his family or his guardians had been involved with DCS. 

The Terre Haute, Indiana Tribune Star contributed to this story.