ALLEN COUNTY, KY - A couple in Kentucky have been accused of forcing a one-year-old boy to live in a spider-filled basement and garage, where the mother's boyfriend let him play in filth and eat his own used diapers until the little boy choked and died.
The boyfriend, 22-year-old Deavan Williams, is charged with wanton murder and first-degree child abuse of a child under 12 in connection with the alleged mistreatment of his girlfriend's son, Law & Crime reported. The boy's mother, Alexandrae Price, 22, is charged with child abuse.
An arrest warrant reviewed by WLEX says Price left her toddler in Williams' care and allowed him to neglect and abuse the little boy until he eventually died on July 27. The boy died with "suspicious trauma, including mouth bleeding and body bruising," according to the warrant.
Williams told police he fell asleep while the boy was in his care and the child "consumed portions of a feces-contaminated diaper" and choked. "Williams admitted that he was [the child's] primary caregiver and the only adult supervising [the child] during the time period immediately preceding the child's collapse," the arrest warrant states.
Police said Williams "knowingly subjected" the child to "extreme endangerment and cruel punishment," including "intentionally feeding him extremely spicy foods despite Alexandrae Price telling him to stop."
The infant was forced to live in a basement filled with flies and spiders, as well as an "un-air-conditioned garage filled with trash, beer cans, soiled diapers, and heavy cat urine, where the infant's playpen sat directly on the contaminated floor," according to the arrest warrant.
Williams allegedly admitted that he and Price bathed the child outdoors with a garden hose, adding that he was "surprised the baby did not have parasites due to the filth," the warrant states.
"He knew the baby had been eating a feces-filled diaper inside the playpen prior to becoming unresponsive," the document states. Price admitted to investigators that "the living area" where her son was kept "had flies and spiders," according to the warrant.
"A large amount of trash and debris was also found in the living area, posing significant health hazards," the warrant says. "The living area was also reported to have high moisture levels and poor ventilation, posing a health hazard." Price told police she would go to work and often leave her son with Williams.
While in his care, the child "lived and remained in a playpen with an environment contained by animal urine, animal feces, raw sewage, decomposing animals, and other hazardous conditions that Williams personally described as containing pathogens and parasites."
Williams and Price are both scheduled to appear in court for their preliminary hearings on Wednesday, August 12, in Allen County District Court.
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