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ROCK CAVE -- An Upshur County couple faces felony neglect charges after three children and multiple dogs were allegedly found in a home full of rotting garbage and bloody feces.
Catara Alyssa White, 25, and Trevor Alexander Howell, 26, are both charged with one count of gross neglect of a child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, a felony.
They are both currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on separate $50,000 cash-only bonds.
According to the criminal complaint, filed by Cpl. T. R. Collins with the Upshur County Sheriff's Department, on Tuesday, Collins received body camera footage from R. Bowman, the Lewis County Animal Control officer, that showed a red brick home with "a sheet covering the doorway, multiple piles of household garbage in the yard and numerous dogs running around, along with two adults and two children."
Along with the footage, Upshur Animal Control Officer J. Slaughter said a complainant who called about the dogs told him "the floor inside the residence was falling in" and that the two adults would "go to the neighbor's house asking for food and showers for the children," the complaint states. Collins applied and executed a search warrant on the residence of White and Howell that same day to seize the children and animals.
While executing the warrant, Collins writes that he located White, along with two children around the ages of five and two. Outside of the home, Collins noticed "various piles of rotting household garbage" and a garbage burn pile. Inside the home, Collins reportedly observed a living room that contained two beds, a couch and one large overflowing garbage can with "rotting household garbage that smelled foul."
On the floor of the home, Collins noticed "multiple piles of fresh and dried dog feces that had blood in it," the complaint states. Collins writes that the blood in the fecal matter was consistent with parvovirus, and it was clear that the children had been walking around barefoot in the feces due to smears on the floor. In between a child's bed and the couch, Collins observed a "a pile of vomit."
Collins located "a large bag of green leafy substance" next to the television, which White allegedly stated was hemp that was "discarded from a dispensary," the complaint states. Collins also found multiple marijuana smoking devices, and marijuana containers on the nightstand next to White and Howell's bed, "all of which were in reach of the children."
In the bathroom, Collins observed multiple newborn puppies along with more dog feces, according to the complaint. When he went upstairs, Collins found a third child, a teenager, residing in that space. Throughout the house lay pots and pans with "various stages of decaying food," Collins writes. He also observed that the roof had a current water leak which was causing the ceiling above the beds to fall in. Collins described the smell of the residence as "nauseating."
At one point, Collins writes that he witnessed a small child drink water from a crockpot that was outside, and also found multiple open "pick" wounds on the youngest child.
White, according to the complaint, asked to call Howell since he was working nearby. CPS accompanied Collins to remove the children.
A preliminary hearing for White was scheduled for today, while a preliminary hearing for Howell was scheduled for June 9.