HERSHEY, Pa. — Police in Dauphin County have charged a 27-year-old woman with endangering the welfare of a child after she allegedly left her 5-month-old baby alone at an apartment in "deplorable" conditions for more than a week.
Heaven Maez, 27, was arrested February 9 at the Hollywood Motel in Lower Swatara Township by Dauphin County Probation and Parole officers, who were performing a check on the man she was staying with. The officers discovered Maez had active warrants for her arrest and took her into custody.
She was found to be in possession of crack cocaine by arresting officers, according to Lower Swatara Township Police.
One of Maez's arrest warrants was filed by Derry Township Police, who found her 5-month-old daughter on January 30 while performing a welfare check on a 63 year-old occupant of an apartment located on the 200 block of Cocoa Avenue.
That man's son had contacted authorities to express concern after his father did not return text messages for two days, according to police.
Arriving officers detected the "overwhelming" smell of feces coming from an open bathroom window, according to a criminal complaint affidavit. The officers were able to access the apartment after discovering the front door had been left unlocked. Once inside, the found the 63 year-old man dead in a bedroom.
The infant was found lying nude in a bed "covered and stained in dried human feces," the arresting officer wrote in the complaint. The baby was lying in a round pool of urine and feces, and when officers attempted to clean her, they noted her skin was peeling off, the complaint states.
The baby was transported to Hershey Medical Center for treatment, according to police. The officers stayed behind to document the apartment's conditions, which they described as "filthy" and filled with empty beer and liquor bottles, old food with bugs visibly present on it, and feces on the floors and furniture of almost every room.
Police found a whiteboard in the kitchen with a name and phone number for Maez, and her driver's license was found on the kitchen table. Police noted there were several containers of powdered baby formula evident, but no baby bottles were found.
An autopsy determined the man died a few hours before police arrived, the complaint states. The preliminary indication was that his death was not suspicious and possibly due to kidney failure, according to police.
Police did not detail the nature of the man and Maez's relationship or why the baby was found there, but a neighbor reported Maez had last been seen at the apartment nine days before police arrived to the welfare check.
Staff at the Hershey Medical Center noted the baby had peeling skin around her lips and chin, open sores on her neck, a severe case of diaper rash, and multiple bruises and lacerations all over her body, according to the complaint. It appeared as though the baby had been lying on her back in the position she had been found for several days, police said.
A doctor later told authorities that if the baby had been left alone for another 24 hours, she probably would have died due to lack of food and hydration, according to the complaint.
Dauphin County Children & Youth Services has taken custody of the child, who continues to improve under medical treatment, according to police.
On Tuesday, Maez waived a preliminary hearing on the child endangerment charge and will face a formal arraignment on May 3, according to court records.
She is being held in Dauphin County Prison after failing to post bail of $100,000.
