A 31-year-old woman is in custody and facing arraignment this morning in Uxbridge District Court after the remains of three infants were found in a home in Blackstone on Thursday. A hazardous-materials team has been in and out of the house the past 24 hours sifting though what police describe as "piles of filth."
Police came to the house at 23 St. Paul Street last month and removed four children. They returned Thursday, prompted for reasons unknown, and made the grisly discovery: The bodies of three infants. Authorities are trying to determine how the children died, but it’s clear that they died in horrific conditions. Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. described the house as filthy and mice infested.
"The people who have gone into the house have had to wear protective clothing, protective gear," Early said. "There has been a decontamination process for everyone coming out of the house to enter the house at this point. We feel that is necessary. 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 to two-foot high. Again, the house is in deplorable condition. That’s what we have at this point."
The children who were removed from the house in August were covered in feces, according to police in Blackstone, a town located along the Rhode Island border. Officers were called to the house last month after a neighbor reported that one of the older children approached her saying that a 6-month-old child was crying. Neighbors have long grumbled about a terrible smell coming from the residence. But it’s not clear if they complained loudly or insistently enough. The state Department of Children and Families, according to authorities, had received zero complaints about the occupants until recently. The surviving children — 6, 3, 10 and 13 years old — are now in state custody.
"We do not have the genders of the infants yet," Early said. "We do not have the manner or cause of death. But what we do know is that we have three infants that have been found deceased at this residence."
One person is in custody. Erika Murray, 31, will be arraigned on the charge of intimidation of a witness in Uxbridge District Court. The chief medical examiner is still trying to determine the cause and circumstances leading to the deaths of the three children. That could lead to more charges being filed in this disturbing case.
