Roach-infested residence brings charges

The officer began questioning the mother, Martha Jean Heflin, 40, about why her daughter was out at that time of the night. The officer said he observed, through a window, a bedroom crawling with cockroaches, an unmade bed and mattress covered with roaches, an open can of beans and an empty rabbit cage on the floor, both covered with roaches, and “filth and empty boxes” on the floor.

The officer said he entered the house, finding a sofa “covered in clothes and filth and roaches scrambled across the floor, ceiling and walls.” He noted that none of the beds had sheets and all were covered with roaches, and he found a drinking cup with two live black widow spiders in it, and saw dog feces on the floor.

In the kitchen, the officer said roaches were crawling all over, including the stovetop where he found a pot of “old food” crawling with maggots that also crawled out of the pot onto the stovetop, according to the report. In the refrigerator, he said, he found a little bit of food and a lot of roaches. In the freezer compartment, he said he found roaches squashed in the door seal and in the ice. The washing machine, he said, was full of water and dead roaches, but had no soap or clothing. He found dirty dishes in standing water in the sink, along with dead roaches. A bag of rotten potatoes — also covered with roaches — was on the floor.

The officer said he asked Heflen if she worked.

“She stated she did not,” he wrote. “I asked her what she did all day and she said she cooks and cleans.”

In addition to citing Heflin for cruelty to children, the officer turned the case over to the city’s code enforcement department for possible action on maintaining an unclean premises.