Posted by By Ruben Castaneda and Mary Otto on
The conditions in a New Carrollton basement apartment where police found five young children left alone early Sunday were so bad that authorities determined yesterday that the entire house was uninhabitable and had it vacated and padlocked.
The conditions in a New Carrollton basement apartment where police found five young children left alone early Sunday were so bad that authorities determined yesterday that the entire house was uninhabitable and had it vacated and padlocked.
By yesterday afternoon, bright-orange "order to vacate" signs from the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources were on each of the home's doors and windows.
The children -- ages 6 months to 6 years old -- were found by police at 12:30 a.m. Saturday lying on a sheetless bed that smelled of urine and feces. Only a small electric space heater, in an unsafe position, was keeping the children warm, according to a charging document filed by New Carrollton police.
The infant has cystic fibrosis, and each of the children was dirty, hungry and appeared to be in need of medical attention, according to the charging document. They were all taken to Prince George's Hospital Center for evaluation.
Their mother, Amara N. Eden, 31, was arrested early Sunday on misdemeanor child-neglect charges. She is scheduled to appear before a Prince George's judge today for a bond hearing. County social services officials have custody of her children.
State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said yesterday that prosecutors are evaluating evidence to determine whether to charge Eden with any felonies.
Prosecutors believe that Eden, who is from Nigeria, might be a flight risk, Ivey said. They might ask the judge who will preside over Eden's bond hearing to order her to surrender her passport, he said.
The squalor in which the children, and a mixed-breed dog, were living in was discovered when a man who lives in another part of the house, in the 7600 block of Topton Street, called New Carrollton police about midnight to report possible child neglect.
An officer entered the basement apartment through an unlocked door and found a pan of burning food on the stove, according to the charging document. Dirty dishes and old food were on the sink and elsewhere in the kitchen, with roaches crawling on the dishes.
The year-old dog had been chained in the living room without food, water or a way out of the apartment to relieve itself and was living in its own feces and urine. Animal control officers took possession of the dog, the document states.
Irman Faisal, who had called police, said he and his wife noticed a strong odor coming from the rented basement of the home, according to the charging document. Officials said they believed that Faisal is a tenant, not the home's owner.
Faisal told police that Eden had left the basement apartment about 10 p.m. Saturday for her job in the District. According to Faisal, Eden typically did not return until 8 a.m., the charging document states.
Eden had lived in the basement for about two years and always left the children unattended when she went to work, Faisal told police.
Police called Eden, an employee of a health-care facility, at her job. She returned home and was arrested shortly before 2 a.m., according to the charging document.
"While in custody, [Eden] stated that if she had known that she was going to be arrested, she would have not returned to the apartment, and would have gone someplace to commit suicide instead," the document says.
The brick, ranch-style home looks unremarkable from the outside. A glimpse inside the basement, through an open door, showed filth smeared on the floor and on the wheels of a small pedal car. A powerful stench was evident from outside.
Ivey said the owners of the house -- identified in county land records as a woman named Azmat Asif and a man named Mohammed Asif -- could face civil penalties if it is determined that they violated nuisance laws.
New Carrollton authorities have determined that the Asifs did not have a license to rent the basement, as required, said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office. Violating the license requirement could result in fines of $100 to $1,000 a day, officials said.
Efforts to reach the Asifs yesterday were unsuccessful. No one answered the door of the Topton Street home, and no one answered at phone numbers listed in Azmat Asif's name.