9-year-old girl found living amid roaches; parents arrested

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Two Richmond County parents are facing charges after authorities say a 9-year-old girl was found inside a roach-infested house.

On Oct. 24, deputies responded to the 2500 block of Rhodes Drive to investigate a domestic disturbance after a er-by heard screaming.

Lavetta Lynn Turner, 42, and Jeffery Robert Schultz, 42, are both charged with deprivation of a minor, according to Richmond County jail bookings.

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Upon arrival, deputies heard a woman screaming and glass breaking from inside.

Near the front door, deputies said they could smell and see what appeared to be sewage water in the front yard and trash and scrap metal across the front of the property.

An incident report states a young girl answered the door crying, saying her parents were fighting.

Deputies say roaches were crawling on her feet, the floors and the walls. Officials noticed that the house smelled of urine and fecal matter, according to the report.

In the living room, there were broken dishes on the floor and trash everywhere, officials say.

Schultz told deputies that his wife was “crazy, and they were arguing about a pack of cigarettes,” according to the report.

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Turner told deputies she wanted to brush her hair before speaking with police, according to the report.

Officials say both appeared intoxicated on methamphetamine.

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies “noticed the extremely filthy and deplorable conditions of the home.”

Clear plastic bags throughout the house appeared to contain meth residue, plus multiple glass pipes and empty marijuana bags were found, deputies said.

The parents said they were going to clean the house, but hadn’t had a chance.

Deputies also saw roaches inside the plastic bread bags, the sink, the refrigerator and on the kitchen floor, according to the incident report.

Deputies said Schultz told them the young girl sleeps on the floor in the living room with a small mattress.

Schultz also told deputies the water and electricity were cut off because he did not have enough money, the report states.

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Schultz then allegedly itted that he and his wife smoke meth once or twice a day, costing them around $30 a day.

As “he only gets $900 a month in Social Security Disability Benefits he does not have enough money with his current Methamphetamine habit,” a deputy wrote in the report.

Deputies say Schultz told them he has only been doing meth for about a month or two and that “he became addicted after wanting to try it because he has spent his life doing every drug known to man but had never tried meth.”

According to Schultz, Turner “usually smokes crack but now that she is on meth with him, she has become very difficult to deal with.”

Deputies heard meowing coming from the back bedroom and found multiple small kittens. The room was filled with trash and no one could make it past the door due to the volume of trash and junk, according to the report.

Richmond County Code Enforcement, Animal Control and the Department of Family and Child Services, DFACS, responded to the home.

Richmond County Code Enforcement condemned the house. Richmond County Animal Control removed a dog from the backyard and the kittens from inside the house, according to the report.

Richmond County DFACS placed the girl in temporary care of her grandmother.

Schultz told DFACS his daughter has been sick a lot lately and not in school. According to the report, he stated she may have become sick due to the sewage backing up into the house.