Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Jack Ball | | Defense(s): | Daniel O’Brien | | Judge(s): | James Stewart, Dwayne Morrison |
Animal, child neglect - dead animals in home
Galesburg, IL (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jul 7, 2009
County: Knox
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Michael Geier
» Rebecca Johnson-Geier
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
Abingdon Police responded to a domestic disturbance call Friday night and instead found what one veteran officer called "the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life."
Police entered the white, two-story residence of Rebecca Johnson-Geier, 28, and Michael Geier, 31, at 606 Monmouth St. after Johnson-Geier called in a domestic disturbance complaint against her husband.
Johnson-Geier and her two children, reportedly ages 10 and 8, had fled the home, and she placed the call from a neighbor's house. Initial reports said Michael Geier fled the scene, after reportedly tearing a cell phone Johnson-Geier was using to call 911 out of her hand in the couple's front yard.
When a police officer arrived, he didn't find Michael Geier in the family's home. But the officer did find a home "filled with feces, flies and seven or eight dead animals," according to Abingdon Police Chief Fred Andrews.
Michael Geier remained at large this morning.
Police who entered the home said they found strands of fly-paper and a stairway covered with hundreds of dead flies, a white-laminated floor barely recognizable in color due to filth and feces, as well as a wire cage containing three dead kittens. Drug paraphernalia also was reportedly found.
The rooms that looked to be the children's were in no better condition.
"It was hard to even enter the home," Andrews said. "The smell was so bad, our guys couldn't stay very long in the place. It's toxic. You cant even step on the porch."
Johnson-Geier, standing outside the neighbor's home from where she placed the call, did not warn police about her home's condition when they advised her they were going inside to look for Michael Geier.
"She didn't say a word about the home," Andrews said.
Johnson-Geier also refused medical treatment initially from the injuries received in the domestic dispute, although she was later taken to St. Mary's in Galesburg. There, she reportedly remarked to a responding officer that they would likely be seeing each other again because of the house's condition.
After receiving treatment at St. Mary's, she was arrested on seven charges ranging from animal cruelty to two counts of endangering the health of a child, and spent the night in the Knox County jail.
She was released Saturday on $3,000 bond, Andrews said.
Geier was charged with similar crimes, in addition to the domestic battery charge.
Neighbors described the family living in the flea-infested Abingdon home as "keeping to themselves" and "never letting anyone in the door." One neighbor, however, said animals clearly adored Johnson-Geier, who was often seen walking around the yard with a boa constrictor around her neck and two pit bulls at her feet, and that the couple's two children appeared healthy and happy while riding bikes in the street.
Having never talked to the couple, neighbors were unsure how long the Geiers had been living in Abingdon. One said three years, while another said around a year and a half.
All were unsure where Geier worked but believed it was somewhere local.
Andrews said the family of four was living with at least eight live animals, including three large snakes. The live animals were taken in by the Knox County Humane Society, while the snakes are still in the home (as of Monday afternoon).
The Abingdon Police Department has cordoned off the house while they await decision from the Knox County Health Department on how to clean it up.
"In my 20 years on this job, this is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life," Andrews said.
The couple's two children were placed in protective custody with grandparents.
Case UpdatesThe Abingdon woman accused of knowingly starving or failing to provide sufficient food for a number of cats and dogs, many of which later died, was in Knox County Circuit Court on Friday.
Rebecca Johnson-Geier, 28, is charged with cruelty to animals, two counts of endangering the health of a child, all Class A misdemeanors, as well as violation of animal owner’s care duties, a Class B misdemeanor. The charges stem from the early July discovery and removal of no fewer than 12 dead dogs and cats from the 606 W. Monmouth St. home Johnson-Geier lives in with her husband and two children. The state alleges that Johnson-Geier knowingly starved the animals while putting her kids at risk.
On Friday, Judge Dwayne Morrison appointed Geier-Johnson a public defender in the misdemeanor case.
Johnson-Geier told Morrison her only source of income was unemployment.
“My husband works but he’s keeping all his money for himself,” she said of Michael Geier, 28, who is also charged in the case.
Johnson-Geier declined comment following Friday’s court appearance.
Police discovered the condition of the home after a 911 domestic violence call placed by Johnson-Geier.
Geier is charged with one count of domestic violence, as well as interference with a domestic violence report, on top of animal cruelty and child endangerment charges parallel to Johnson-Geier’s.
On July 9, during Geier’s bond hearing in court, Johnson-Geier indicated to the judge that she’d like the domestic violence charge dismissed. Later that day Johnson-Geier bailed Geier out of jail.
The couple missed their joint first appearance July 21 in their ordinance violation case, also related to the home’s reported condition.
Johnson-Geier later told a reporter they were told they didn’t have to attend. Nonetheless, a summons was issued asking them to return to court for the ordinance case. On Sept. 1 at 11 a.m., the couple will face charges of failure to maintain property, failure to dispose of dead animals, offensive condition of home related to confined animals, and improper maintenance of animals, as well as an additional count of failure to appear.
Meanwhile, Geier’s first appearance in the misdemeanor case is at 11 a.m. Aug. 14 with public defender Daniel O’Brien. Johnson-Geier will make her first appearance with counsel " public defender James Harrell " at 11 a.m. Sept. 21.
If found guilty of the Class A misdemeanors, Johnson-Geier and Geier face up to a year in jail and $2,500 in fines. A Class B misdemeanor carries a penalty of no more than 6 months jail-time and fines of up to $1,500. | Source: Galesburg.com - Aug 7, 2009
Update posted on Aug 7, 2009 - 6:37PM |
Both suspects in the Abingdon animal cruelty case missed their first appearances in Knox County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning.
Rebecca Johnson-Geier and Michael Geier, both 28, were scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Tuesday for their ordinance violation cases.
Neither showed up.
Those violations, all related to the condition of the couple's 606 W. Monmouth St. residence, include failure to maintain property, failure to dispose of dead animals, offensive condition of home related to confined animals, and improper maintenance of animals.
Judge Dwayne Morrison said he knew of no attempt by the defendants to reschedule the hearing. The matter will be referred back to the Abingdon Police Department. | Source: Register-Mail - July 22, 2009
Update posted on Jul 22, 2009 - 11:06AM |
A man accused of living in a flea-infested house filled with dead animals was released from jail Thursday after he turned himself in to police Wednesday night.
During a hearing Thursday afternoon, Judge James Stewart set bond for Michael Geier, 28, at $500 cash.
Geier's wife, Rebecca Johnson-Geier, who was arrested in the case last week and released on bond, was in the gallery Thursday and told Stewart she had the money to bail her husband out of jail.
Johnson-Geier, also 28, asked Stewart if he would waive the 72-hour stay away law that requires an accused abuser to stay away from and have no contact with the victim for 72 hours after being released.
"I don't need the 72 stay away," Johnson-Geier told Stewart.
Stewart said he did not have the authority to waive the law and she would need to arrange alternate transportation for her husband after he is released from jail.
Johnson-Geier also indicated she wants to have the domestic violence charges dropped.
Following the bond hearing, Johnson-Geier declined a reporter's request for an interview although she said "the whole thing had been blown out of proportion."
While paying Geier's bond minutes later at the Knox County jail, Johnson-Geier said she had not been in the family's home for five days when police arrived Friday night. She declined to comment further.
Geier is charged with animal cruelty, two counts of endangering the life or health of a child, domestic battery and interfering with a 911 call of domestic violence, all Class A misdemeanor's punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. He also is charged with inhumane treatment of animals, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
Abingdon police officers came upon the couple's 606 W. Monmouth St. house Friday night while responding to a domestic violence call placed by Johnson-Geier against her husband of eight months. While searching for Geier inside the family's residence, officers reportedly found seven dead animals and six living ones.
Johnson-Geier was arrested Friday on charges ranging from animal cruelty to endangering the health of a child.
She was released Saturday on $3,000 bond.
Two children were taken into protective custody and have been placed with relatives.
At Thursday's court appearance, a public defender was appointed for Geier. His next court appearance is Aug 14. | Source: Peoria Journal-Star - July 9, 2009
Update posted on Jul 22, 2009 - 10:58AM |
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