Man accused of starving 19 kids on trial

FRENCH VALLEY, Calif., May 6 (UPI) -- A California man charged with starving and physically abusing two women and many of their children has gone on trial almost a decade after his arrest.

Mansa Musa Muhummed's home in Aguanga was raided in 1999. Investigators said he kept two of his three "wives" and 19 children prisoner.

In her opening statement Monday, Assistant Prosecutor Julie Baldwin told jurors they would hear recordings of children screaming, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. She said Muhummed starved his victims and that one 19-year-old girl weighed only 56 pounds.

"These children were stunted due to the fact that the defendant starved them over a period of years," Baldwin said.

Laura Cowan, Muhummed's second "wife," said he moved in with her after her first husband went to prison in 1995. She told the jury Muhummed took total control of her life.

Muhummed claimed he was following Sharia law, but Cowan said she was already a Muslim and did not recognize some of his practices.

Under cross-examination Tuesday, Muhummed's attorney tried to shake Cowan by asking her why she left her baby daughter with Muhummed's first wife after the 1999 raid, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Marva Boddie, his only legal wife, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse in 2000.