South Carolina: Mother of three and pregnant with her fourth child, Savannah Morgan, 25, charged after police found her kids living in home full of feces and decaying animal bodies

SOUTH CAROLINA -- A 2-year-old boy remained in the hospital in critical condition Wednesday after he was found unconscious and bruised in a Gray Court home filled with dozens of dead and dying animals.

Animal Control officials had been dispatched to the suspect’s home in Gray Court, a small community 26 miles from Greenville, after sheriff’s deputies found 88 animals on the property, with the vast majority of them already dead.

The boy’s mother originally told deputies that he choked on some potato chips and that she called 911 when she went into his room and saw he wasn’t breathing, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The report says the father of the child led the deputy to the bedroom where there were soiled diapers, feces, broken glass, and trash on the floor.

Doctors said the child may have been dropped, but his injuries were too severe for that to be all that happened, Franklin said.

Deputies told WHNS-TV there were a number of dead and dying animals kept in containers in the home, which was covered in trash, animal feces and in serious disrepair.

Two other children, ages 1 and 2, were also living in the home.

The list of deceased animals included 48 rats, 11 gerbils, 10 python snakes, six tarantula spiders and two bearded dragons.

Police arrived to a home emitting a foul odor and full of animals, mostly dead, some in cages and others in plastic bins. Eighty percent of the animals were dead, WSPA reported.

The dogs were taken to an animal shelter.

  

On Wednesday, Savannah Victoria Morgan, 25, was charged with abuse to inflict great bodily injury on a child, three counts of unlawful neglect of a child and cruelty to animals, according to warrants.

Morgan is also almost 8 months pregnant, according to investigators.

A judge in Laurens County set Morgan’s bond at $50,000 for child abuse to inflict great bodily injury, $10,000 for each child neglect charge, and a $5,000 bond on charges of animal cruelty.

The judge has ordered that Morgan have no contact with the children without DSS approval if she is released on bond. The judge also ordered that she not own any animal until the case is resolved.

Lt. Franklin said there is a likelihood of additional charges being filed. He said the father of the children is being cooperative in the investigation even though he could be charged as well.

Franklin said the rural home was the worst condition he had ever seen. She was also charged with one count of animals/cruel work, abandonment, etc. of animals.

“Most of our officers probably were faced with something last night that they probably have not seen in their careers. It was a very sad situation to see something like this”.

The Johnson Detention Center on-line jail log shows Morgan remains in custody this morning.

(Ledger Gazette - July 31, 2015)