PARENTS ACCUSED OF STARVATION AND MALNOURISHMENT

 Multnomah Co. District Attorney's Office

PORTLAND, Ore. – Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced the arrests of 33-year-old Mena Kamel and 28-year-old Marina Zaki who are accused of knowingly causing serious injury to two children by starvation and malnourishment.

This case is being investigated by the Gresham Police Department and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team.

Both children are under the age of six.

Kamel and Zaki are charged with four counts of assault in the first degree and 14 counts of criminal mistreatment in the first degree.

According to court documents, the starvation, malnourishment and criminal mistreatment occurred between September 1, 2018 and June 27, 2020.

This investigation started on June 27, 2020 when one of the children suffered a critical injury that prompted a law enforcement and medical response to a residence in the 16400 block of East Burnside in Gresham.

The extent of the alleged starvation and malnourishment was first discovered by hospital staff.

Both children continue to receive medical attention to restore their health.

No additional information can be released by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office at this time.

Kamel and Zaki are scheduled to be arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court on January 20, 2021.

The Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team includes representatives from CARES Northwest, local law enforcement, public schools, hospitals, health departments, local mental health service providers, the Oregon Department of Human Services, and Multnomah County’s Department of Community Justice.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team works with community partners to protect children who have been abused and neglected while ensuring that all practices are trauma-informed and mitigate the life-long consequences of child abuse. The team also handles child homicides, felony child physical abuse cases, felony child abandonment cases, custodial interference cases, and felony sex crimes where the victim is currently under the age of 18 and where the suspect is determined not to be a stranger to the child.