Mom Arrested in Upstate New York After Leaving 4 Kids Alone in Filth

Unfit Mom Arrested in Upstate New York

Police arrested a mother of four in Upstate New York this week after authorities say she abandoned her four young kids, ages 12 and younger, for hours in horrific and deplorable living conditions.

According to sources, the home was so run down that police officers had to battle the stench of human feces and moldy food while they comforted the four young children.

4 Kids Left in Horrendous Conditions

The New York Post says that Lindsey Powell left her Connecticut home on the evening of November 8th and, in doing so, abandoned her three daughters and one son to "horrendous conditions" inside their Vernon apartment.

Sources say that police were tipped off about Powell's children by a concerned neighbor.

When officers arrived at their home, "the 11-year-old daughter opened the door with her three younger siblings behind her and naked."

"(A) resident had video of the mother, identified as Powell, leaving the apartment at 4 a.m. that morning and later, of the 11-year-old daughter walking outside without shoes on, and looking around the parking lot as if looking for her mother’s car."  CT Insider 

“I was hit with the smell of cat urine, rotting food, and feces,” one of the officers said.

Police Stayed with the Kids for Hours

According to the New York Post, officers stayed with the kids for several hours while they tried to track down their mom.  Powell, according to the source, "claimed she would be back soon but never showed up."

Police say neighbors also came over to give the children food before the state Department of Children and Families took over.

After leaving her four children alone to fend for themselves, police say that Powell threatened suicide to a family member and then was later tracked down in Poughkeepsie and arrested.

The Bedroom Didn't Have Beds

The living conditions were so bad that, according to sources, the bedrooms had no beds, and police found a hamster in a cage on the pull-out couch where some of the children had been sleeping.

According to the sources, the officer said he saw one of the children “eating old pasta from the floor.”

Powell will be back in court on Monday, facing four counts of risk of injury to a minor.