Police: Three Children Safe After Being Found in ‘Deplorable’ Conditions in West End Home

Three Alexandria children are safe after being left home alone in “deplorable conditions,” according to police.

Charges are pending against the mother of the children, a woman in her 20s, who was described by the children’s grandmother as suffering from mental issues and being off her medication, according to a search warrant affidavit.

On Nov. 16, Alexandria Police met the grandmother at the children’s home in the 600 block of N. Pelham Street, which is near Holmes Run in the West End. Inside, police found the children — ages six, four and three — in “deplorable conditions,” according to the affidavit.

“There were piles of clothes strewn all over the house to include the floors and furniture,” police said in the affidavit. “There were empty food containers and food all over the house. It appeared as if they used the floor as a trash can. This was consistent throughout the home.”

Officers found the six-year-old hiding behind a couch with a small plate of pancakes she had just made in the microwave. The child told police that she slept on the couch in the living room, and that “mommy smokes weed with men in the basement,” according to the affidavit.

Minutes later, police witnessed the four and three-year-old children playing with long serrated knives from the kitchen. They also found a bedroom that reeked of urine.

The grandmother called police after finding the children home alone. She reported that the last time she’d spoken with her daughter was three days before to give her groceries.

“The groceries provided to the (mother) were still in the bags to include the fresh meat and milk,” police reported in the affidavit. “There were several bags that appeared to have been rummaged through by the children, possibly looking for food.”

A next door neighbor then called the mother and told them that police were at her house. The neighbor told police that the children are often left unattended, and that once the eldest child asked to use the neighbor’s phone at 1:30 a.m. to call her mother.

The mother arrived home shortly thereafter and told police that she’d gone to buy groceries at the nearby Giant on Little River Turnpike.

“They were asleep,” the mother reportedly told police when asked why her children were left alone. She refused to say how long she had been away.

Child Protective Services then arrived and made arrangements with other family members to take care of the children during the investigation, according to the affidavit.

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