4-year-old with meth exposure found living in rat-infested closet of Houston drug house
When Houston-area deputies went to the home of April Burrier last month to investigate reports of a possible meth lab in the home, they discovered a four-year-old boy living in the closet. That child has since tested positive for methamphetamine exposure. Attorney Rachel Leal-Hudson, who is representing the child’s interests, told investigators that while being forced to stay in the closet, “his friends” were rats and roaches, according a January 2 report from The Star-Telegram.
On Tuesday, a judge in Harris County decreed that the child will remain in the custody of Child Protective Services while the investigation into the case continues. Officials can’t say for certain how long the child lived at the residence; but the four-year-old did tell officials that he was forced to stay in the closet for hours at a time. The boy also said that if he was caught sneaking out of the closet, “his punishment was being forced to sit on top of a refrigerator where he was afraid he would fall after nodding off,” according to The New York Post.
“His friends” were the “rats and roaches” that would visit him, Leal-Hudson said. “He can articulate some things that are really shocking and surprising that tell us he was in there for a quite a length of time,” she said. “The detail on this case is very awful. This is a 4-year-old child who has seen things an adult should not have seen.”
Pornography and drug paraphernalia were reportedly recovered right outside the closet by deputies. Bad mom April Burrier is looking at child endangerment charges. She wasn’t at the house when deputies came to investigate reports of meth being made there; but she was arrested shortly after deputies arrived on the scene. Meth and marijuana were discovered inside the residence.
The mother’s story to authorities was that someone else was supposed to be taking care of her son, but investigators said, “she was too high or otherwise intoxicated to tell them where that person was or how to get in touch with them,” according to ABC News affiliate KTRK.
In a Harris County courtroom yesterday, the boy’s father, Robert Dehard, said that he left his son with Burrier after Thanksgiving and that he’s now trying to gain full custody of his son. The father though does have previous drug convictions. The judge is waiting for results of the father’s drug tests before making a decision on his custody request. The father said that he had no idea his son was being subjected to any abuse at the house and that he just wants to get his son back. KTRK reported that police are still searching for Daniel Clark Morris III, “who was allegedly making and selling the meth out of the home where the boy was discovered.”
Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today
