Dead babies found in home where animals being neglected

MASSACHUSETTS -- This is absolutely tragic. A woman from Blackstone, Massachusetts faces several charges after police recovered the bodies of three infants from the house her squalid, vermin-riddled house.

Last month, Erika Murray, 31, was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment after a neighbor (led by Murray's 10-year-old son) discovered a crying baby covered in feces in Murray's home. A 51A child abuse/neglect report was filed by an unknown citizen, and the Department of Children and Families promptly removed four children ages 13, 10, 3, and 6 months from her, condemning the house.

After obtaining a warrant last week, the police searched the home (which was in such bad condition, covered in various infestation, diapers, feces, etc. that they had to wear hazmat suits) and found the remains of three babies. Medical examiners are currently attempting to determine if they were fetuses or newborns.

On Friday, Murray was arraigned on charges including "concealing an out of wedlock fetal death, two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child, intimidation of a witness, cruelty to an animal and violating an abuse prevention order," though she has not been charged in the deaths. Reports say there was also a man living in the house—his role in the situation is unknown and he has not been charged with anything.

Needless to say there is a lot of missing information in this case. It's not yet known if Murray is the mother of all of the children (or the infants). Apparently the state Department of Children and Families admitted that they had received a 51A child abuse/neglect report for the same family back in 2007, but said that it was unsupported and that no case was opened with the family, according to Mass Live.

Meanwhile, neighbors who noticed that the shades in Murray's home were always drawn and that the house did smell rancid, and that she did tend to keep people or friends of her children out of the house, but no one thought anything of it. A mail carrier stated that Murray's children often ate breakfast on the front porch.

Obviously this investigation is just beginning. And Murray's court-appointed lawyer stated that mental illness played a part in the situation, saying, "Who could live in that house who is not seriously mentally ill?"

(Jezebel - Sept 14, 2014)