A woman is under arrest after the remains of three infants were found in a Blackstone home on Thursday. The discovery was made at 23 St. Paul Street during a child endangerment investigation.
Officials in hazmat suits investigated 23 St. Paul St. Wednesday night and again Thursday. The home was in “deplorable condition” with rats, feces, and trash everywhere, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. Three deceased infants were discovered inside, and the medical examiner was called in due to the decomposition of the bodies. The cause of death is unknown.
“It was a long and very difficult day,” Early said. “And a sad day. Our investigation will continue for quite some time.”
Neighbors said officials in hazmat suits were at the house about two weeks ago. Someone reported that four children were being neglected and living in deplorable conditions, prompting local police to launch an investigation. The Department of Children and Families became involved and took custody of a 13-year-old, 10-year-old, 3-year-old and 6-month-old living in the home.
DCF released a statement Thursday confirming that they had custody of the children.
The statement went on to say, “DCF has never had an open case with this family and learned about this situation through a 51A report. DCF referred the report to the local District Attorney’s office for further action and is working in collaboration with law enforcement to investigate the report.”
According to neighbors and public records, 31-year-old Erika Murray and her boyfriend Raymond Rivera live at the home. Authorities will not say if or how they may be connected to the four children removed from the residence, or the remains of the infants discovered there. However, Murray was arrested Thursday evening in connection with the conditions of the home and will be arraigned on intimidation of a witness and other charges Friday morning in Uxbridge District Court.
Agencies/Canadajournal
This is a tragedy beyond belief. And when reading this article count the number of people who knew something was “wrong, weird and could smell something foul” when they walked by. It doesn’t take much to pick up the phone, write an unsigned letter to the kids elementary school, the department of health and the dept. for children and their families or heck, WALK TO THE POLICE STATION and say….”something is wrong at that house, please check it out, there are children living in there”……