Deputies arrested a 41-year-old Florida mother after finding her 8-year-old autistic daughter wandering outside naked and barefoot, and discovered that the girl and her two siblings had been living in deplorable conditions inside a home filled with biohazard materials.
Authorities took Carla E. Nishikura into custody Thursday and charged her with three felony counts of child neglect, court records show.
Deputies from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on Wood Amber Lane in Palm Coast after receiving a request for a welfare check on an 8-year-old child seen wandering outside naked, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the office.
Authorities said the child, identified in court records as “E.N.,” had received a diagnosis of autism and was nonverbal. Before deputies arrived, a neighbor found the child and returned her to the home, and deputies then responded to the home to check on the girl’s well-being.
Nishikura told investigators her daughter had “a history of eloping” and had left the house through the garage while Nishikura was asleep. According to the affidavit, Nishikura said she normally secured the interior door handles with zip ties but “forgot to do so the night prior,” allowing the child to open the doors and leave on foot.
After Nishikura consented to let him enter the residence, the responding deputy said he was immediately met with “a strong odor consistent with fecal matter.”
According to the affidavit, investigators found “fecal matter coating the floors, walls, and ceiling” throughout the kitchen and living room. The 8-year-old was inside the home “naked and barefoot,” while two additional children were also present.
The deputy said the child’s bedroom contained only a bed frame without a mattress and that “fecal matter, cracked eggs, and urine” covered the floor. Nishikura explained that the girl had instead been sleeping on the living room couch because her bedroom was contaminated.
While investigating the home, the deputy wrote that he observed the child “using a tool to scrape fecal matter from the wall and manipulate it with her hands.” He also reported finding cracked electrical outlet covers throughout the residence, which left exposed wiring accessible to the children.
The affidavit states that Nishikura identified a case manager who had been assisting the family. The deputy contacted the woman, who reportedly said she had arranged for a professional cleaning company to clean the home, but the crew refused because of the “biohazard conditions.” The case manager also told investigators she had personally visited the residence the previous day and had filed a report with the Florida Department of Children and Families because of the home’s condition.
One of the other children reportedly told deputies that adults had instructed them not to enter the girl’s bedroom because of the biohazard. According to the affidavit, the child said the fecal matter had been there for about a month and described it as “hard as a rock.”
Investigators said Nishikura admitted she knew about the condition of the home but said she was “unable to manage her home and children on her own.”
The Department of Children and Families accepted the abuse report and dispatched an investigator to the scene for an immediate response.
Authorities arrested Nishikura, alleging she willfully neglected to provide “a clean and safe living environment,” failed to provide necessary accommodations for her children, and exposed them to biohazard materials. Deputies transported her to the Flagler County Jail without incident, and she is scheduled to appear in court for her arraignment on Aug. 18. The court set her bond at $7,500.
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