A dad is on the run after his 12-year-old son was found dead in his living room with maggots all over his emaciated 24.5-kilogramme body and broken arms.

Jacarie Robinson was found dead in his father’s living room in Milwaukee, in the US state of Wisconsin, on Tuesday, 10th October.

His dad Romuan J. Moye, 45, is wanted by the authorities, who issued a warrant for his arrest on Saturday, 14th October, on charges of chronic neglect of a child resulting in death and failure to report the death of a child, among other charges.

Officers with the Milwaukee Police Department found Jacarie dead at an apartment complex on 10th October and stated that the boy was in an “advanced state of decomposition”.

The officers had been called by Moye’s 22-year-old son, named only as JM, who told officers that usually, his three younger siblings, aged 17, 15 and 12, all lived with Moye.

But over the last few weeks, the 17-year-old and the 15-year-old, not named, had been living with their mother, while the 12-year-old remained with Moye.

The police said in an affidavit that on 10th October, JM went to the apartment.

They said that he let himself in after no one answered the door, adding: “JM went into the residence and looked around but nobody was home. JM went back into the residence to look for some belongings that were important to the Defendant.”

The affidavit also said: “As JM entered the living room, JM noticed a foot protruding from covers on the living room floor. JM immediately yelled out because JM knew it was JR’s body. JM pulled the cover back and observed JR’s face in an advanced state of decomposition with maggots present.”

JM told police that he recalled his youngest brother looking “extremely skinny” as far back as August, the last time he saw him alive, and wondering what he was being fed.

JM said Moye was strict and a “harsh punisher” but said he “did not use physical punishment often”.

Moye had allegedly previously told the victim’s mother, not named, that Jacarie had been misbehaving and “stealing food”.

Investigators said that the apartment had “an overwhelming smell of mould, faeces, and decay”.

Jacarie’s body was autopsied, with it being revealed that he had suffered broken ribs and other recent fractures and that his body weighed just 54 lbs (24.5 kilogrammes).

The investigation is ongoing.