A property manager was shocked to find children in “absolutely abhorrent” conditions of a basement and called social workers in Racine, Wisconsin.
The manager spoke to WISN-TV about what she witnessed in the home on July 31. She said that she had been sent to replace smoke detectors at the home and gained entrance to the basement.
“All the windows were closed. The lights were off. I thought that was so weird,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified publicly.
There was a stench of garbage, and then she saw several children in the unfinished basement alone.
“They looked skinny. They looked like they had not been bathed,” she continued. “They were laying on the floor, there was actually one baby in the basinet, and there was another baby laying on its stomach on the mattress on the floor.”
The children were later identified as being between the ages of 1-year-old up to 14 years old.
When the property manager was told the age of the oldest child, she was shocked.
“The oldest I believe, was probably 7. She kind of approached me but she didn’t say anything, she almost just looked at me and then she ran back to the room,” she said.
“Would you be shocked to learn the oldest was actually 14?” asked the WISN reporter.
“Are you serious? Then she’s too little. She’s way, she’s little then.”
Police transported the children to a hospital for an evaluation.
A criminal complaint identified the woman as Dashja Turner, who was arrested for child neglect and held on a $1 million bond.
“There was one twin size air mattress in the first room of the basement. On the air mattress, there were four frail, unkept children. The mattress had a single sheet covering it. No pillows or blankets,” the complaint read. It went on to claim that some of the children wore only socks.
Investigators said that the 14-year-old had never seen a dentist and weighed 54 pounds.
Prosecutors said that Turner told police the children were being homeschooled.
The father of a 7-year-old boy found at the home said that Turner had ignored his texts asking for him to see his son.
A neighbor said that they had never seen children at the home and did not know any children lived there.
Here’s the video of the WISN-TV news report:
Property manager describes finding Racine children living in filthy, dark basementwww.youtube.com
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