Harris Co. has 30 days to extradite mom currently in Louisiana accused of starving kids

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A mother connected to a sad case of potential child abuse went before a judge in Louisiana Thursday morning to determine when she will be brought back to Texas.

The mother and her boyfriend are expected to arrive at the Harris County Jail at some point. Both are facing injury to a child charges and are accused of some horrific acts of child abuse.

The mother has been identified as 40-year-old Zaikiya Duncan and her boyfriend is 27-year-old Jova Terrell.

Both appeared before a judge and are being held without bond in Louisiana. Harris County has 30 days to extradite them back to the Houston area.

ABC13 uncovered the video showing twin 16-year-olds going to a neighbor's home for help in Cypress. Deputies said they had been handcuffed. That led to the search for their mother, her boyfriend, and their siblings in Baton Rouge.

SEE ORIGINAL STORY: Cypress woman answers handcuffed twins' cry for help after escaping abusive home

Duncan and Terrell, along with five children, were at the center of an Amber Alert issued on Tuesday. They were eventually all found in Louisiana, and the adults were arrested.

This is how everything started.

The woman's 16-year-old twins -- a boy and a girl -- were captured at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday going door to door begging for help. One of them was not even wearing a shirt, and the weather was fairly cold that morning.

It's unclear how long they were looking for help, but a woman eventually let them inside. She said she was horrified at their condition.

She told ABC13 that the teenagers were hungry and that they shared details of abuse they suffered at home, claiming not having eaten in days and being handcuffed and locked inside the laundry room of their Cypress home.

The neighbor called the police which sparked an Amber Alert.

"The girl was saying, 'This is what's going on,' and the boy was just, all he could think about was food. They sat down, both of them said they were hungry. They started eating and saying how they moved from Baton Rouge to here," the neighbor said.

The twins are now in the care of Child Protective Services.

We looked into the mother's background and found that she has a documented case of child abuse in Louisiana from 2012.

As for incidents in Texas, CPS said they have had no contact with the family.

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