Five children were removed from a home in Middletown and police said they were malnourished, had not bathed in days and the house smelled of urine.
Police went to the family’s home on Berlin Street on April 15 when Andy Meeks, 28, called police because he and his wife, Jessie, 23, were having a verbal argument, Middletown police said. What police found concerned them because five children were living in the home. It had no heat and was “in a complete shambles and filthy.”
"There was no bedding. The children were on mattresses," Middletown Police Lieutenant Heather Desmond said.
The children range in age from 6 months old to 6. The youngest had the size and appearance of a newborn, weighing under 7 pounds, and suffered from visible skin irritations, police said.
The 6-month-old boy and the 1-and-a-half year old child were brought to the hospital, but the 6-month-old was flown to CCMC. Without treatment, doctors told police he would have died in a matter of hours, according to an arrest warrant.
The arrest warrant for Andy Meeks said Jessie admitted to police that she neglected the baby boy and would leave him alone in his crib for hours. He also said his wife was depressed and had a drinking problem.
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Police arrested Jessie Meeks on June 3. Andy Meeks turned himself in on an active warrant on Monday.
Jessie and Andy Meeks were charged with five counts of risk of injury to a minor and five counts of cruelty to persons.
Jessie was arraigned on Monday and is being held on $150,000. She is due back in court on June 15 on these charges as well as charges in connection with other unrelated risk of injury charges. Meeks was charged on April 27 after a woman spotted a girl she said was dirty and malnourished walking on Liberty Street.
The girl's mother, Brandi Massita, told police she and Meeks had been up drinking and hanging out with a group of men until 4:30 a.m. When Massita left for work, she left her daughter with Meeks.
Both women were charged with risk of injury to a minor. Massita was due in court on Tuesday.
Andy Meeks was arraigned on Tuesday, is being held on $150,000 bond and is due back in court on June 28.
