Ohio Couple Arrested After Starving Children Discovered in Home — with One Weighing Just 30 Pounds

An Ohio couple has been arrested and charged with starving and abusing three young children in their care after first responders were called to their home to assist a 9-year-old boy who police say was severely malnourished, weighing only 30 pounds.

Angel Holland and Aaron Stalling face three counts of child endangerment and three counts of felony abuse, according to Hamilton County Jail records reviewed by PEOPLE.

The children’s grandfather, Ronald Sanders, told WXIX that the three children remained hospitalized last week. Elmwood Place police responded to the home on Sept. 13 and found the 9-year-old boy unresponsive, according to WXIX, WCSC, and WLWT.

“I have seen a picture of him and it was literally the most horrific, disturbing thing I have ever seen in my life,” Sanders said, speaking out against Holland and Stalling, who WXIX reported was her live-in boyfriend.

“I just can’t understand how somebody can be so evil and you’re family,” Sanders added. “I don’t understand that. If you didn’t want them, give them to somebody else. Let somebody else take care of them.”

According to Hamilton County court records cited by WXIX and WCSC, Stalling called 911 on Sept. 13 after fearing the boy wasn’t breathing.

“My child isn’t breathing or he’s having a hard time breathing,” Stalling can reportedly be heard telling a 911 dispatcher, according to WCSC.

He told the dispatcher that the boy was breathing but “it seems really weak.”

“Is he speaking?” the dispatcher asked.

“No, he’s not speaking at all,” Stalling reportedly responded. “He’s not responding at all.”

Stalling added that the boy had been struggling to breathe for “maybe five minutes” before calling 911. “I heard him breathing. It’s kind of labored, so I went to check on him,” he reportedly told the dispatcher. “He seems out of it … it’s like he’s not breathing, I don’t know.”

First responders were able to resuscitate the boy at the scene, where they also discovered his siblings, ages 8 and 6, who were allegedly malnourished and required hospitalization, WXIX and WCSC reported.

“This appears to be one of the most insidious examples of child abuse that I’ve seen in 25 years,” a Hamilton County prosecutor said in court, according to WLWT.

Inmate records reviewed by PEOPLE show that Holland and Stalling are both being held on $600,000 bond and are awaiting trial.