BUCKHANNON — An Upshur County man and woman both face child neglect charges after an autistic, non-verbal 4-year-old in their care was allegedly found locked in a room with feces.

Kayla Renee Spruill, 36, and Joshua Vincent Moore, 40, are each charged with one count of child neglect creating risk of injury, a felony. Both are being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on separate $25,000 cash-only bonds.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Sgt. T.R. Collins with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on March 5, the Sheriff’s Office was alerted to a domestic incident.

Upon arrival, deputies spoke with Moore and Spruill, the complaint states. Spruill allegedly told deputies that she and Moore had gotten into an argument and during the argument, Moore “accidentally” hit Spruill in the chin/mouth area with her cellphone. Collins observed Spruill’s chin to be red and her bottom lip appeared to have a “small laceration.”

When asked who called 911, Spruill said it was her 18-year-old daughter, the complaint states. Collins spoke with the daughter inside the residence and the daughter stated that she had videotaped the domestic incident. She allegedly further stated that arguments between Moore and Spruill were common, but Moore could be “mentally and emotionally” abusive to Spruill.

Collins then asked where the other children were in the residence, the complaint states. The daughter led Collins down the hall to the room of a 4-year-old child in the home. Collins allegedly observed that the bedroom did not have a door, but rather two locked gates that were stacked vertically. The 4-year-old was then allegedly observed to be locked inside and sitting on their bed, “which was covered in food.” The child was reportedly nude with their feet and mouth stained blue. 

Further observation reportedly revealed that the child had been attempting to finger paint on the wall with their own feces, the complaint states. Feces was also allegedly observed on the floor.

The daughter allegedly stated that the child was autistic and non-verbal, and had been locked in their own room “for (their) own safety,” the complaint states. She also reportedly stated that she was asked to stay home from school that day to watch the child since Moore had to go to work and Spruill wasn’t home yet. She said she told Moore and Spruill she could not miss school due to important classes she had to attend, but she ultimately stayed home with the child. Collins was also allegedly informed that Moore locks the child in the room while he “smokes weed and plays video games.”

After speaking with the daughter, Collins went and spoke with Spruill, who allegedly admitted the 4-year-old was locked in the room “for (their) own safety because (they) elope,” the complaint states. When Collins stated that there are other ways to keep the child safe, Spruill allegedly said they had tried, “but it does not work.” Collins reportedly did not observe any extra locks on the residence’s main door.

Spruill reportedly consented to a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) due to an odor of alcohol emitting from her person, the complaint states. The results were approximately 0.1. When Collins asked Spruill as to why she still had that much alcohol in her system, Spruill allegedly stated that she went to work the night before and then went to a friends’ house where they split a bottle of wine and watched a movie. Spruill stated that she returned home around 11:30 a.m. and the PBT was reportedly administered around 2 p.m.

During all of this, Moore spoke with other deputies and allegedly stated that he woke up around 3:30 a.m., smoked marijuana, then left for work near Huttonsville and returned around 1:30 p.m., the complaint states. Moore also allegedly stated that he had argued with Spruill and had accidentally hit her in her chin/mouth. He reportedly told deputies that the hit “was nothing” and Spruill was “pinching and pulling her chin to make it more red.”

When Collins asked Moore as to why the 4-year-old was locked in the room, Moore allegedly said it was because the child “elopes,” the complaint states. Moore also reportedly said that it was not his decision for the 18-year-old to stay home from school and watch the child. He then allegedly said that Spruill smoked weed and left the 18-year-old to watch the child while she went to work.

According to the 18-year-old, it was common for the 4-year-old to be locked in their room.