A Pittsburgh mother was charged Tuesday with child endangerment after police said they found four naked children “covered in dirt” in her “deplorable” Stanton Heights home — and two of them burst into celebration when they mistook an officer shining a flashlight on the ceiling for the sun.
Officers were dispatched around 3:05 p.m. to 211 Schenley Manor Dr. for “an abuse call.”
Inside the two-story duplex of Koreya Washington, 26, police found walls covered in feces “and other unknown dried liquids” and a fridge storing only spoiled food, according to a criminal complaint. “Dirt, trash and food scraps” covered both floors in the house.
It appeared Washington and the children — who “had a horrendous smell,” police said — had not bathed in days, according to the complaint. Bedrooms were furnished with dirty mattresses — without sheets, covers or blankets, police said.
The children, whose names and ages were not provided by police, were taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for evaluation. They arrested Washington on four counts of endangering the welfare of children.
Washington was arraigned Wednesday and released on nonmonetary bail, court records show. Her attorney was not listed Thursday in court records.
A city social worker told police he “was familiar with Washington” and previously tried to get her services, the complaint said. But Washington, he said, had declined.
A Schenley Manor Drive neighbor told police this week they “have never seen the children outside of the house,” the complaint said.
Two of the oldest children told Sgt. Aaron Conner they were hungry, the complaint said. When he showed them his flashlight on the ceiling, “they started to scream for joy and dance, calling it the sun.”
Washington told police her boyfriend “doesn’t allow her to leave the house” or clean it, and that there are “ongoing domestic violence issues,” the complaint said.
Police did not elaborate in the complaint.
Washington also “conflicted herself,” according to police, by telling authorities that her boyfriend is not often home.
The mother “continued to blame her situation on everyone except herself” and told police “that nothing should happen to mothers who don’t care for their children if the mother is a victim of domestic violence.”
Workers for Allegheny County’s Office of Children, Youth and Families planned to meet with the children at the hospital, police said.
Washington’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28.