Trigger Warning: This article contains references to the alleged child abuse that some readers may find distressing.

In a horrifying case of child abuse and neglect, a Missouri mother subjected her three children to years of extreme cruelty and maltreatment. The mother has now pleaded guilty to child endangerment.

The investigation began in December 2025 after a local resident, who had become the children’s guardian, contacted authorities to inform them that Chantel Hayford and her boyfriend, Jerry Menees, were inflicting severe child abuse upon Hayford’s three kids.

The individual told investigators that three teenagers aged 13, 14, and 17 had arrived at her home in July 2025 asking for food. Investigation records show that Hayford had allegedly traded the three children to the guardian in exchange for a cellphone that equaled to the amount of $231.

After trading them, Hayford “signed power of attorney” over to the guardian and had her three children move into their new home.

As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered more distressing details. According to a probable cause affidavit from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the three children endured horrific living conditions inside a home covered in feces, locked inside a “chicken pen,” shot at with BB rifles, and forced to eat caulking.

The guardian told detectives the children had never been enrolled in school and were unable to read or write.

Hayford initially faced a series of charges, including kidnapping, s*xual abuse, child endangerment, abuse or neglect, and domestic assault. However, she pleaded not guilty. Her boyfriend Menees is also accused of serious crimes against the children; however, his current charges were not confirmed at the time of publication.

Under a plea agreement finalized this week, prosecutors dropped the majority of the charges in exchange for Hayford pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

The affidavit details accounts from each of the three children, identified in court records as CJV1, CJV2, and CJV3. 

According to the affidavit, 14-year-old male CJV1 told investigators that Menees threatened to “blow his brains out,” nearly suffocated him in a headlock, pointed a gun at him and regularly “punch or slap him.” 

CJV2, a 13-year-old male, alleged Menees pulled a black 9mm gun on multiple occasions. “CJV2 stated that his mom kept laughing when he pulled the gun out. CJV2 stated that he was very scared when Jerry pulled the gun out. CJV2 stated when Jerry had the gun pointed at him, he was thinking, ‘I hope he doesn’t shoot me because I have a long life to go’. CJV2 stated that Jerry did this two times. CJV2 described another time he was sitting with Jerry; he said that Mom was a “WH,” and CJV2 said he asked him to stop cussing, and Jerry pulled the gun out and told him to get out of the house.” 

“CJV2 stated that he got the gun from under his pillow and that it was the same gun as last time. CJV2 stated that he was 11 during the pillow incident and turning 12 during the gun in the cabinet incident.”

“CJV2 described a time that mom told CJV1 that she hoped he died and shoved him over a church pew.”

CJV3, a 17-year-old female, told investigators she witnessed Menees choking CJV1 and that she knew his gun was real. “CJV3 (17-year-old female) described witnessing an incident between Jerry and CJV1 where Jerry grabbed him and was choking him by squeezing him tightly. CJV3 stated that she saw Jerry’s gun and knew it was a real gun and that she saw him use drugs and knew that he used drugs.”

The affidavit further details that Hayford and Menees allegedly forced the children to consume alcohol, edibles, cigarettes, and drugs. For their own entertainment, the couple organized “fight nights” in which the siblings were forced to physically fight one another. Menees is also accused of threatening the children with a real firearm.

The affidavit includes an account from the guardian, who told officers she witnessed Hayford grab her daughter’s breast on one occasion. She also allegedly forced her to cut her hands and smear blood on trees due to an alleged issue with animals.

Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record.