A Florida mother was arrested this week after leaving her minor son at home while she went on vacation in Las Vegas for several weeks, according to Sunshine State law enforcement.
Jessica Copeland, 37, is accused of one count of child neglect, three counts of animal cruelty, and four counts of animal confinement without food, according to Putnam County court records.
Deputies from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office initially responded to a welfare request at a house on Songbird Road in Palatka, a medium-sized city located approximately 45 miles east of Gainesville, and appeared to find everything in order.
An adult allegedly answered the door, offered to locate the defendant’s teenage son, did so, and then sent the authorities on their way.
“That adult informed the deputies, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m cleaning up. “I can grab the teen so you can see he’s being cared for,” officials told Jacksonville-based independent TV station WJXT. “The child came outside, spoke with deputies, and said everything was fine. “There were no issues.”
Then another call came in, this time with evidence, according to deputies.
Law enforcement returned, this time investigating allegations of animal neglect, according to an arrest report obtained by Law&Crime.
Inside the house, the son told deputies he was “in control” and alone, and that he had been on his own since July 21, while his mother traveled to Las Vegas for vacation, according to the report.
The minor also claimed that he was “not given the proper necessities to survive” and had to rely on others to bring him food, according to the report.
The deputy goes on to write that they requested to see the inside of the house. The minor allegedly told the deputy that there was “poop everywhere” from the family’s seven dogs.
Deputies identified the dogs by their names: Onyx, Hera, Big Boy, Faye, Bella, and Kitty. Their breeds include two pit bull mixes, a Lab/Mastiff, two chihuahuas, and a Chiweenie. Chase, the seventh dog, is a black mouthed cur.
“Entering the front door of the residence I was met by multiple dogs in various poor conditions as well as the smell of feces and urine,” according to the police report. “In the living room, I noticed that all walkways to the other bedrooms were covered in a thick layer of brown/white matter identified as animal feces. On the floor, I noticed several crockpot bowls full of water with unknown insects floating and flying around the surface.”
The charging document goes on to describe various states of filth and disrepair inside the house, claiming on several occasions that the dogs were confined in a room with feces about four inches thick.
When asked by the deputy how long the house had been in such disarray, the woman’s son allegedly stated that it had been that way for years because “this is how Jessica keeps the house and refuses to clean,” according to the arrest report.
Some of the dogs were emaciated or “extremely emaciated,” while others lacked access to “the correct food and water,” according to the report.
According to court records, Copeland is currently detained at the Putnam County Jail on a $25,000 bond. On Tuesday, she was assigned a public defender and a no-contact order was issued in her case.
