Feb 21, 2024 By Mark Hofmann 4 min read

A Brownsville couple charged with abusing their 6-year-old daughter, starving her and locking her in a cage will stand trial in Fayette County Court.

Jacob Weight, 37, and Mimi Ann Frost, 33, also “basically hog tied” the girl with zip ties, according to the Tuesday testimony of a 17-year-old who was living with the family from April 2023 through early February.

One of four other children living in the house with Weight and Frost, the teen testified through sobs that the couple forced him and other children in the house to also abuse the girl. On a couple of occasions, he said, he was told to slap her with an open hand.

In emotional testimony, the boy said he saw Weight and Frost lock the girl in a cage for days, hit her with a broom handle, restrain her with zip ties and deny her food.

“She was basically hog-tied,” said the teen, who is not being identified because Weight and Frost are charged with corruption of minors with him listed as the alleged victim.

The teen testified he saw Frost choke the child on more than one occasion, and said Weight once grabbed the girl by the neck and lifted her off the floor.

When District Attorney Mike Aubele asked what prompted the abuse, the teen testified it was because the 6-year-old had frequent accidents in her pants or because she ate food from the refrigerator.

When questioned by defense attorneys Brent Peck and Greg Kunkle as to why he never told the police, the teen said he was previously abused and was afraid of men.

State police learned of the alleged abuse on Jan. 7, when Weight called 911 after the 6-year-old passed out in the bathroom at their home in the 1300 block of Sheridan Avenue in Brownsville.

Brennan Rummell, a registered nurse and volunteer firefighter with South Brownsville VFC #1, was among the first responders. Rummell testified Weight was reluctant to let him in the house, telling him there were several adult pitbulls inside.

Once inside, Rummell testified he saw that the home was in deplorable condition, with feces and urine throughout.

He said when a teenage girl brought the 6-year-old downstairs and handed her to him, the child was semi-responsive and her legs were swollen.

The girl was taken to WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital, where Marissa Engle, a caseworker with Fayette County Children and Youth Services, met with those treating her.

When Engle arrived at the hospital, she said the girl was under a warming blanket because her body temperature was 88 degrees. She said hospital personnel told her they could not remove the blanket without harming the girl, so she was shown photos of the child’s bruises.

“Almost every surface of her body had injuries,” Engle testified,

The girl was later transported to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Trooper Adrian Ryan, who responded to the couple’s home, testified that the door to the 6-year-old’s room was drilled shut. He said that Weight told him that was done to keep the dogs out.

Ryan also testified that the house was only heated with an electrical heater.

Peck, who represented Weight, asked for the charges against his client to be dismissed, citing testimony from the 17-year-old that Weight tried to warm the child when she became unresponsive, and ultimately called 911.

Frost’s attorney, Kunkel, argued for his client’s charges of aggravated assault and corruption of a minor to be dismissed because prosecutors only presented hearsay testimony and no evidence to support the charges.

Aubele argued that both Weight and Frost admitted to abusing the child when they were being questioned by police. He also argued that the child nearly died from her injuries and the couple instructed other children in the home to abuse her, too.

“If that’s not corruption of a minor, I don’t know what is,” Aubele said. “This case was a heartbeat away from a homicide.”

Magisterial District Judge Mike Defino Jr. held all charges for court including aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children.

Defino also denied a motion to set bond, remanding Weight and Frost to Fayette County Prison as they await trial.

Both are scheduled for a formal arraignment in the Fayette County Courthouse on March 21 at 9:30 a.m.