Mom arrested for allegedly leaving 4 kids alone in feces-covered home with a bucket of urine
04/01/2025 12:03 pm PDT
LAKE CHARLES, La. (TCN) -- A mother faces charges after allegedly leaving several children home alone in dirty conditions in the middle of the night and falling asleep at a friend’s house.
According to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, on March 28 at approximately 10 a.m., deputies performed a welfare check at an apartment on Winterhalter Street after receiving a report of four unsupervised children under 6 years old. Detectives arrived and noticed the home was "covered in feces with a bucket of urine inside."
Authorities said the children were soiled, and the youngest victim had severe diaper rash.
The children’s mother, 25-year-old Daionjanee Young, returned to the residence around two hours into the investigation. She reportedly told detectives that she left at around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. to pick up food while her kids were asleep. Young allegedly said the restaurant was closed, and she went to a friend’s house but fell asleep there.
Officials arrested Young and booked her into the Calcasieu Correctional Center on four counts of cruelty to juveniles and four counts of child desertion.
Sheriff Stitch Guillory said, "It is heartbreaking to see children living in these conditions. We appreciate the community members who alerted us to this situation. The children have been placed in state custody by the Department of Child and Family Services."
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