Four adults were arrested in Mart, Texas after three children were found in deplorable living conditions. The children were “caked” with dog feces, which included on their faces. They were also covered with flea bites, had soiled and sagging diapers on, and suffered from blistering sunburns.
According to Wave 3 News , Mart police arrested Doyle Cross, 62 and Darious Johnson, who identified himself as the father of one of the children. The father of the other children, Wesley Stanford, 23, was also handcuffed as well as the mother, 24-year-old Jana Fisher. The children that were in the home included two 2-year-olds and a 1-year-old.
The investigation and arrests came as a result of someone calling Mart police earlier last week, stating that the residence had city ordinance violations. The yard was littered with trash and dirty diapers. From the outside, it appeared to be a hoarding situation. The officer that responded to the call became concerned when she noticed children. Law enforcement were horrified at the conditions inside the home. Police Chief Paul Cardenas told the news outlet that he had never seen living conditions like this before.
The officer notified Child Protective Services. However, the owner of the home, Doyle Cross, refused to let them in without a search warrant. So, police were called to the residence, but Cross refused to identify himself. He was later positively identified as Cross and another man at the home, Darious Johnson, said he was the father of the little girl.
While Mart police and CPS were at the residence, the father of the other two children, Stanford, and the mother arrived. When they were questioned about the severity of the sunburns on the children, the parents said they were outside without adequate sunscreen.
Inside the home, there was dog feces covering the floors, furniture, and beds. The living conditions were horrifying and he children had feces “caked” on their feet and faces. The little girl had scratches on her face and had several flea bites . The children were also found with soiled, sagging diapers, according to Crime Watch Daily .
There were four dogs at the residence. Some ran away, but animal control was able to rescue two of them. They were taken to the Waco Humane Society.
https://www.facebook.com/ktabtv/posts/10155259625121391
Doyle Cross, Darious Johnson, Wesley Stanford, and Jana Fisher were all arrested and charged with child endangerment. In addition, Cross was charged with failure to identify.
https://www.facebook.com/KHOU11/posts/10156583156579062
Cross’ bond has been set at $7,000 and the other three defendants have bonds of $6,000. With the exception of Johnson, the suspects have been released on bond.
[Featured Image by evgenyatamanenko/Thinkstock]
