Children found living among filth and dead dogs Winston-Salem, NC (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 County: Forsyth Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Charges: Misdemeanor Alleged: Lyvette Renee Keller

Case ID: 11500 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (pit-bull) View more cases in NC (US) Child or elder neglect Login to Watch this Case

Winston-Salem police arrested a woman yesterday after they found her children living in her apartment among feces, moldy food and a dead dog.

Lyvette Renee Keller, 35, of 335 Crafton St., Apt. 5, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, and one count of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor.

Child Protective Services summoned police her apartment Tuesday, Sgt. Jeff Broome said.

A neighbor, Shardel Beecher, said she had been feeding the children, who are 7 and 9. She said she called Child Protective Services after the apartment�s electricity was disconnected.

�The other night, we had gone out to eat, and I hadn�t fed them,� Beecher said, �and when I got back the kids came to my door and asked, �Do you have anything to eat?�

�And that�s at 11 o�clock at night,� she said.

The two-story apartment was filthy last night. Insects buzzed over plates of rotten food in the kitchen. The second floor of the apartment had become so dirty that the children refused to use the bathroom there and were instead going outdoors, Beecher and police said.

A spot on the carpet marked where a pit-bull puppy had died two days ago.

Neighbors were told that Shadow, another dog owned by the family, had run away. Neighbors found the remains of that dog in a garage behind the apartment. The garage floor was covered with excrement yesterday, and an outline of the dog�s body was visible.

The children were with Child Protective Services when police left, but police would not say who had custody of them.

Joe Raymond, the director of social services, was out of the office yesterday and could not be reached.

Keller was being held last night at the Forsyth County Jail, with bond set at $10,000.

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Back to Top

Add this case to:

Del.icio.us

|

Digg

|

Furl

|

References

Winston-Salem Journal - May 31, 2007

« NC State Animal Cruelty Map

Not sure what these icons mean? Click here.

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.