A Lower Macungie Township couple accused of attempting to fatally starve 15-year-old twin boys in their care say they can’t get a fair trial because of “pervasive, widespread, inflammatory and sustained media coverage,” and are asking for a change of venue.
Tracy Dechant, 43, the boys’ mother, and her husband, Joshua Dechant, 37, filed the motion this month in Lehigh County Court. If granted, their trial would be moved to another county, or a jury from a different county would be brought in to decide their case.
In the motion, they complained that the local jury pool is tainted due to frequent news coverage, and noted that their case “has also drawn significant attention on social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.”
The case began in January 2025 when one of the twins knocked on the door of a neighbor’s house asking for food, police said. The teens told authorities that they endured punishments including standing outside naked in the freezing cold and being denied food and water, according to court records.
When admitted to the hospital, one brother weighed approximately 53 pounds and the other weighed approximately 55 pounds. Doctors said boys of their size and age should weigh 110-143 pounds.
The Dechants are charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit third-degree murder and other charges. They are free on bail.
In a related motion, the couple asked that a judge force the prosecution to provide specific details about the charge of conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, specifically the “medical diagnosis alleged to have been caused by the defendant’s alleged intentional malicious act,” and “the proximate amount of time before the victim would have been killed as a result of the defendant’s alleged intentional malicious act.”
The Dechants have a pretrial hearing scheduled before Judge James T. Anthony on July 21.