A father and his girlfriend have been charged in the death of a 7-year-old boy who was found dead in Newburgh eight months ago.

The Newburgh Police Department held a press conference Friday to release the disturbing details about what happened to Peter Cuacuas.

Newburgh police say the condition that Cuacuas lived in was harrowing.

"He weighed just 37 pounds and died as a result of malnutrition," said Newburgh Police Commissioner Jose Gomerez.

Newburgh police say he was left locked in a bedroom, starved and in the care of his father's girlfriend, Leticia Bravo.

Bravo has been charged with second-degree murder and could face a life sentence.

Peter's father, Arturo Cuacuas, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide.

"So, you have one person responsible for the condition that sets everything in motion that leads to Peter's death, and you have another person that saw it happening while it was going on and should have known to take some action but didn't," says District Attorney David Hoovler.

Hoovler wouldn't say if there were any other kids in the house or what day Peter was last seen in school. He did say that he hadn't logged on for virtual learning about a month before he died, despite conversations between the school and Leticia Bravo.

"I'm not going to cast any blame for the city of Newburgh school district because during COVID-19 it was a different dynamic. Everything was different," said Hoover.

The district attorney talked about why it took eight months to arrest Cuacuas and Bravo, explaining that the cases is complex and that there were challenges during the pandemic with staff shortages.

Bravo was arraigned Friday and will appear in court on Oct. 26.