Wisconsin mom pleads not guilty to child neglect after death of five-year-old son with special needs whose body was stuffed in a bag and left in car trunk for MONTHS

A Wisconsin mother accused of neglecting her five-year-old special-needs son, causing his death and hiding his body in the trunk of her car for months has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges.

Sagal Hussein, 26, faces nine charges in Brown County, including chronic neglect of a child resulting in death. 

A criminal complaint says Hussein's son Josias Marquez was likely dead for months before his body was found in March.

Sagal Hussein, 26, has pleaded not guilty to chronic neglect of a child resulting in death and eight other counts. The body of her son Josias Marquez (pictured right) was found in her car trunk in late March, months after his death  

Court documents say the boy had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, but he was not getting proper medical treatment and Hussein was not giving him his seizure medication.

She claimed that the medications were not working and had side effects. Hussein stated she had been using CBD oil instead of medication to help Josias with the seizures. 

According to a criminal complaint cited by Fox 11, the investigation into the child's whereabouts began on January 26. A neighbor had reported seeing Hussein's other two children outside, unsupervised.

Authorities had tried to get Hussein to tell them where her third child was. She said the boy was with his father out of state, but police were unable to confirm that. The boy had not been seen by anyone but Hussein since November 25, officials said.

Hussein was arrested on March 30, and a search warrant was issued for her home and car. The next day, investigators found the decomposed body in a duffel bag in the trunk of her vehicle.

Two weeks later, an autopsy confirmed that the body was that of Hussein's missing son. 

Josias was born with a host of medical conditions and had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy

Hussein was allegedly not giving her five-year-old son his seizure medication, instead opting to treat him with CBD oil. No one had seen the child since late November 2019

A medical examiner found that the boy's body mummified and severely undernourished. The criminal complaint stated that Josias weighed 20lbs when his remains were recovered, but the boy had previously weighed more than 30lbs. 

Hussein's mother, Amal Ismal, said at the time she was shocked. Ismal said Josias was born with medical conditions, and was blind and suffered severe seizures.

'What I know is my daughter, Sagal, is that she was a loving mother and she didn't kill her own son and what I believe is it was not her intention to hurt or kill her own child,' Ismal said.

James Marquez, the biological father of Hussein's children, told investigators the mother never liked caring for her severely disabled son. 

Josias' biological father claimed that Hussein never liked caring for her disabled son 

Marquez said he had been the children's primary caretaker until he became 'fed up' with Hussein and moved to California. 

According to the complaint, investigators reviewed a phone call between Hussein and Marquez in which the mother said she 'f***ed up' and was in 'a hell of trouble.' 

Hussein is due back in court for a status conference on December 7.