Rodney McWeay trial: Father sentenced to life for starving daughter to death

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Rodney McWeay was found guilty on 14 counts for the murder of his 4-year-old daughter. (FOX 5)

ATLANTA - An Atlanta father will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his 4-year-old daughter.

Rodney McWeay, 33, learned of his sentence less than a month after a Fulton County jury found him guilty on 14 counts, including murder, kidnapping and first-degree cruelty to children.

The backstory:

Four-year-old Treasure McWeay died just weeks before Christmas in December 2023, six months after the state removed her and her two brothers from their father's mold-infested duplex, only for him to abduct them from their mother in Maryland.

According to arrest affidavits, the children lived in squalor and isolation. Investigators say McWeay locked them in separate rooms monitored by cameras, with no access to food, water, or bathrooms. Treasure’s autopsy determined she was "extremely malnourished," weighing only 24 pounds at the time of her death.

Rodney McWeay found guilty of murdering 4-year-old daughter

McWeay rejected a 75-year plea deal and now risks life imprisonment with the guilty verdict.

Records show the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services made multiple attempts to intervene in the months before Treasure’s death, but police responses were often delayed and ineffective. In one incident caught on bodycam, an Atlanta officer said, "Even if, say we knock on the door and the kids are in there, there’s nothing at all we can do."

A state child protection investigator testified she found the children locked in a room during a welfare check months before Treasure’s death. 

"This is how I have my kids trained," she recalled McWeay saying as he snapped his fingers and directed his daughter to sit silently.

What they're saying:

During the trial, jurors heard emotional testimony from a pediatrician who detailed troubling declines in growth and development in one of McWeay’s sons, including bruises consistent with being struck. 

"Any drop on the growth curve for a child is abnormal," the doctor testified.

Treasure McWeay, 4, died Dec. 11 after allegedly being starved to death by her father. She's seen here in a photo provided by a family friend.

Dr. Keely Iannelli, who examined Treasure, told jurors the girl died of cardiac arrest caused by prolonged malnutrition. 

"The heart is the last to go," she said.

A nurse described how one of McWeay's sons devoured food so quickly at the hospital he had to be stopped to prevent vomiting. 

"He didn’t know when to stop," she said.

After the sentencing, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis applauded the judge's decision.

"This case is a heartbreaking reminder of what can happen when young children are cut off from safety and support. Treasure suffered from hunger, thirst, and neglect at the hands of her father, who used violence and control to keep her and her brothers from the help they needed," Willis said. "I’m grateful to our investigators, prosecutors, and the community members who helped bring justice for Treasure, and I continue to pray for her surviving siblings and their mother as they begin to heal."

PREVIOUS STORIES

• Rodney McWeay murder trial: DFCS testifies about 4-year-old Treasure's living conditions
• Rodney McWeay trial: Pediatrician testifies about child's early growth
• Rodney McWeay murder trial: DFCS investigator testifies about welfare checks
• Bodycams show Atlanta police doing bare minimum to find 3 kids in peril

Dig deeper:

McWeay had rejected a 75-year plea deal and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

On June 18, a jury found him guilty on counts including felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, false imprisonment, and kidnapping.

Less than two weeks later, Judge Belinda Edwards sentenced him to life in prison plus 155 years to run concurrently.