Two sisters are facing child abuse charges after police said they found their seven children in an apartment filled with mold, feces and hardly any food.
- Daytona Beach police found 7 kids living in filthy conditions
- Children were removed, placed in care of grandmother
- Mothers, who are sisters, accused of child abuse
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Officers with Daytona Beach Police arrested Shameka Jenkins and Melida Jenkins on Wednesday after they initially responded to the apartment for a report of a domestic disturbance. After officers realized the suspect in that case wasn’t home, an officer said he noticed the children living in filthy conditions.
One officer wrote in a police report that he saw a “…carpet that was supposed to be brown in color but was matted, thick, clumpy and covered wall to wall with black mold.”
The officer noted, “The children all appeared to be under-nourished (The oldest child was 8 years old but looked to be 4 or 5).”
And at one point in the police report, an officer wrote:
“In 28 years of police-work in the City of Daytona Beach these are, by far, the worst living conditions I have ever seen children exposed to.”
Police said one of the mothers blamed apartment management for the problems and said she didn’t have enough money to care for the children. But one of the officers wrote that although there weren’t sheets on beds, clean clothes or food, one of the mothers had freshly manicured fingernails.
Police notified the Department of Children and Families, which is investigating the case. Police said DCF placed all seven children with a grandmother.
Shameka and Melida Jenkins both bonded out of jail Thursday.