Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a couple on Hughes Road after deputies found four children in the home living in “unbearable conditions,” according to a LCSO press release.
Alejandro Trejo Martinez, 31, and Britney Darnell Brooks, 26, have been charged with four counts each of felony child deprivation of necessities with substantial harm.
According to the press release, deputies responded to a call at about 2 a.m. Friday saying a small child was walking on Robin Circle with no clothes on. Deputies found an open door at Martinez and Brooks’ residence and Martinez told them the child, who was 5, lived there. Officers reported there was a “horrible stench” coming from inside the residence and saw that there were three more children inside, ages 1, 2 and 10.
LCSO Chief Deputy Greg Wright said one of the children had poor dental hygiene, another had what appeared to be a rash on her neck and another was drinking from a “filthy” bottle. He called the conditions they were living in “deplorable.”
“I would equate it to nothing more than trash dump,” he said. “Absolutely horrible. … If I’ve seen worse, I don’t remember it.”
Brooks is the children’s mother, the press release said. Wright said the incident report lists Brooks and Martinez as “cohabitating.”
Following Brooks and Martinez’s arrests, the children were taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and released into Department of Child Protection Services custody.
LCSO is still investigating the case.
Martinez and Brooks’ bonds have been set at $10,000 each. Martinez is currently in Lowndes County Adult Detention Center. Brooks posted bond and has been released.
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