A Stone County woman has pleaded guilty to felony abuse or neglect of a child.
26-year-old Dessa Barton was accused of abusing her 4-year-old son by keeping him locked in a wooden cage.
Officers say they received a call on November 6th about the child unresponsive in a Billings home.
Emergency crews transported the four-year-old child to a Springfield hospital, then airlifted him to a Kansas City hospital.
Medical personnel says the boy suffered from injuries consistent with physical abuse, as well as extreme malnutrition.
KY3 reports that Richard Hilliker, 52, already pleaded guilty to child endangerment charges. W. Dalton McLendon, 26, and Katherine Kost, 56, will go on trial later this year.
