US woman arrested after three dead babies found in her home
US child welfare officials removed four children from a filthy house in Massachusetts to protect them from suspected abuse or neglect.
But when investigators returned to the house two weeks later, they discovered something worse: Three dead infants lying amid the squalor and vermin.
Police arrested a resident of the house, Erika Murray, on charges that she misled a police investigation into the incident at the house.
Worcester County District Attorney spokesman Tim Connolly would not elaborate on the 31-year-old woman's connection to the crime, but said she would be arraigned on charges including intimidation of a witness on Friday morning.
Flies, bugs, used diapers
The cause of death and the gender of the infants found at the filthy home in Blackstone are still unknown, said Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early.
"The house is in squalor," Mr Early said. "The house is filled with vermin. We have flies, we have bugs, we have used diapers in some areas as much as a foot-and-a-half, two feet (half a metre) high."
Investigators searching the home had to wear hazmat suits and undergo a decontamination process when they left, Mr Early added.
Detectives were investigating a case of reckless endangerment of children when they made the discovery, he said.
The four children - a six-month-old, a three-year-old, a 10-year-old and a 13-year-old - who were removed from the house are now in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
Sources: Reuters, CBS Boston, The Boston Globe
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