Baltimore mother Teonna Brown, 34, sits in jail without bail after authorities say she left her six young children alone in a squalid apartment.
Police charged Brown with six counts of child neglect after a City of Baltimore employee spotted the children, all under age 10, in the back of their apartment “without apparent adult supervision” on Monday, according to a police report obtained by local Fox affiliate WBFF. Officers arriving at the Baltimore rental property found the children “partially clothed,” with some wearing “only socks and soiled diapers.” Several children walked barefoot around broken glass.
The scene inside the home reportedly grew even more dire once police entered.
According to a probable cause statement obtained by local CBS affiliate WJZ, officers found the inside of the home in “poor, unsafe, and unsanitary condition.” The home had no electricity or running water, and it lacked “no readily available food or drinking water.” Police found no beds or “usable” furniture inside, and dog feces covered the filthy space. Court documents stated that when officers searched for clothes for the children, they couldn’t find enough for all six.
Hospital staff evaluated all six children after officers took them in for medical checks. The children showed signs of neglect, but medical staff released all of them into the custody of family members after treatment, local NBC affiliate WBAL reported. The probable cause statement noted that Brown was at the hospital where the children received treatment.
When police spoke with Brown, she allegedly said she had an appointment at a methadone clinic Monday morning and asked a friend to watch her children at the apartment. The friend eventually agreed to come over, but Brown claimed she left “approximately an hour late” for her appointment before her friend arrived, police said.
Brown allegedly told police she would normally wait for her friend to arrive before leaving, but was “late and rushing” that morning.
When police asked Brown about the children’s conditions and the state of the household, she said she wasn’t receiving any food assistance. She told police the children bathed or showered “when they want.”
Court documents show that the city’s housing officials placed Brown and her children in the apartment in April as a crisis placement. The program gave Brown hundreds of dollars in Walmart gift cards for her household.
Mayor Brandon Scott told WJZ that the city government would look into how Brown’s family fell through the cracks, adding, “[W]e’ll also be taking a tough, hard look at whether the landlord, the private landlord who owned this property, was aware of the condition and take any action that we can there as well.”
Police took Brown into custody, and the court is holding her without bail. During a court appearance on Wednesday, Brown’s public defender told the judge that Brown “had unfortunately dealt with substance abuse, and it has been a difficult six months.”
The judge cited Brown’s criminal history, along with a failure to appear and an open warrant, as reasoning for keeping her behind bars.
Brown will appear in court again on Oct. 1.
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