A young Auburn boy is dead, and his parents are now charged with felony crimes.

Auburn police and fire medics were dispatched Wednesday to the 2200 block of Core Drive on a report of a child medical distress.

They arrived to find a 6-year-old boy unresponsive and not breathing. The boy was taken to East Alabama Medical Center where life-saving efforts continued, police said Thursday.

The measures were unsuccessful, and doctors pronounced the child dead.

Investigators quickly determined suspicious circumstances, police said. Evidence consistent with drowning was discovered during medical treatment and the subsequent autopsy.

Additionally, police said, evidence showed the child appeared to be extremely malnourished and had sustained prolonged willful abuse and maltreatment.

The boy’s mother, 47-year-old Kelly West Watford, is charged with felony murder. She is being held without bond in the Lee County Jail.

The boy’s father, 52-year-old Mark Edward Watford, is charged with aggravated child abuse. His bond is set at $30,000.