ELYRIA — An Elyria woman was charged with four counts of child endangerment Tuesday after police found her children alone and living in squalor.

Melody Reed, 23, told police she was “around the corner” from her children — ages 7, 6 and 2 years old, and 7 months old — when an unidentified person alerted police to the screaming of a child at her White Court apartment.

Officers noted that they were 75 feet away from the residence when they first heard the child screaming, the police report said.

Upon arrival, they found the front door of the apartment wide open and spoke with the 6-year-old child, who told them that she and her siblings had been alone since their mother had gone to the store.

Police entered the bug-infested, garbage-filled apartment and found dirty dishes in the sink, several large kitchen knives lying out on the table, and numerous other hygiene and safety hazards, the report said.

The 7-year-old told police that his 2-year-old brother was naked because he had been in the bathtub by himself, which, as police noted, was filled with 6 inches of water.

The child also said they hadn’t eaten since 10 a.m. that morning — 11 hours before police found them.

Reed arrived at the apartment and told police that her sister, Meinyoun, who lives in another apartment, was supposed to be watching the children, but Meinyoun contended that that wasn’t true.

The story was similar to one police heard just a day before when they found the children alone during an unrelated incident at the apartment complex and verbally reprimanded Meinyoun for failing to keep her eye on the children.

Lorain County Children Services was contacted about the incident, and Reed’s mother was contacted to take the children.

Reed was transported to the county jail, where she posted bond Wednesday. The children remain in the custody of Reed’s mother.

Contact Stephen Szucs at 329-7129 or sszucs@chroniclet.com.

 

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