HOUSTON – Two mothers were arrested last week in Houston after police found six children living in squalor.
The children were “covered in filth, infested with lice, and also without access to food,” according to court records.
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Riccy Padilla-Hernandez, 28, and Yures Molina, 34, were arrested on Feb. 2 on child endangerment charges after the children, who range in age from 1 to 9, were found alone inside a Houston apartment, records show.
A report from KSAT sister station KPRC said the women were arrested after a maintenance worker at the apartment complex spotted one of the children barefoot and “wandering in close proximity to a swimming pool.”
The maintenance worker called the police and reported that the 2-year-old girl was dirty, barefoot and appeared to have no parental supervision.
Police called the fire department to examine the girl, according to the San Antonio Express-News, and while authorities were examining the girl a 7-year-old came outside and led officers back to the apartment where the rest of the children were found.
Padilla-Hernandez is the mother to three children, ages 9, 8 and 1, while Molina is the mother to three children as well, ages 7, 3 and 2, police said.
Court records state that the 1-year-old was found in his crib eating his own feces due to hunger.
Houston Police Department spokesperson Shay Awosiyan said a dirty diaper with flies around it and an empty bottle that hadn’t been washed for days were also found next to the crib, the Express-News reported.
All six children were taken by Child Protective Services.
It’s unclear if Padilla-Hernandez and Molina are related. Both were released on a $15,000 bond and are due back in court in April.