Jessica Reeve (Christian County Jail).
A Kentucky woman was recently arrested over the filthy state of the home where she lives with her children, Bluegrass State police say.
Jessica Reeve, 36, stands accused of three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree, according to Christian County Jail records.
The allegations originated from a complaint submitted to the Department of Community-Based Services, which operates under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
That initial complaint would seemingly prove prescient.
According to a report by WKDZ, a Cadiz, Kentucky-based radio station, the agency received information about feces on the walls and garbage on the floor in the apartment where Reeve and her children lived.
On September 18, after investigating the original report, a welfare agency worker contacted the Oak Grove Police Department, as detailed in a criminal complaint accessed by WDKY, a Fox affiliate in Lexington.
Officers then responded to an apartment on Meadow Lane in Oak Grove – a small city and part of the Clarksville, Tennessee, metro area.
Inside the apartment, officers noted an immediate and overpowering odor of feces. This smell was not the only challenge; police described the residence as cluttered with clothes, trash, and other debris, making it difficult for officers to navigate.
Soon enough, responding officers discovered the source of the smell.
Law enforcement reported that feces were smeared on the walls and bed within the apartment. Reeve reportedly explained that her sons had developed a habit of smearing feces on various surfaces.
“Throughout the whole apartment, there were no clean surfaces for children to play, sit or sleep,” police wrote in the criminal complaint.
Reeve allegedly identified the apartment’s inhabitants as herself, her 6-year-old son, and her two 10-year-old sons.
The criminal complaint also took stock of a prior incident involving the defendant, her children, and living conditions.
Previously, Reeve faced charges of first-degree wanton endangerment. These charges stemmed from allegations of leaving one autistic son at home in unsafe conditions and allowing another son with autism to wander onto a busy roadway.
The defendant was arrested on Sept. 18. She is currently detained in the Christian County Detention Center on $15,000 bond.
