Inset, left to right: Caleb Shane Decapio and Hope Lynn Taylor (Northern Regional Jail). Background: The area in West Virginia where the couple lived when their newborn died (Google Maps).
A mother and father in West Virginia are accused of neglecting their infant to death after authorities said their 1-month-old child died in a "deplorable" home surrounded by bugs, mold, rotten milk, and mountains of soiled diapers.
Caleb Shane Decapio, 21, and Hope Lynn Taylor, 20, face charges this week of 28 felony counts each of gross neglect of child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, court records show.
Deputies with the Brooke County Sheriff's Office began investigating when they responded to a call regarding a baby not breathing at a home in the area of Peacock Lane in Follansbee, according to a report from Steubenville, Ohio, NBC affiliate WTOV. Emergency crews arrived at the address and immediately began performing CPR on the newborn.
"After lifesaving measures were attempted, unfortunately, the baby wasn't able to be resuscitated," Brooke County Sheriff Richard Beatty said in an interview with Wheeling, West Virginia, CBS affiliate WTRF.
EMS personnel pronounced the infant dead at the scene at approximately 5:30 a.m. after working for about 30 minutes to revive the child, WVNews reported, citing the criminal complaint filed against the couple.
According to the complaint, Taylor told investigators she had been breastfeeding the child and must have fallen asleep. When she woke up, Taylor said the baby was positioned between her and Decapio and unresponsive.
Roughly two and a half hours later, deputies executed a search warrant at the residence and reported finding what they described as "deplorable" conditions.
Authorities discovered between 80 and 100 soiled diapers in the bedroom where the child slept and about 20 baby bottles containing rotten milk or formula. Investigators also noted mold on food throughout the home and said the air inside was "difficult to breathe."
"It was terrible," Beatty said. "After 30-some-odd years in this business, I could say that it was one of the most deplorable conditions that I've ever seen or witnessed."
Officials also reportedly observed injuries on the infant, including a bruise near the base of the skull and a small amount of blood on the child's cheek, according to the complaint.
"I would tend to think there's some serious neglect," Beatty said.
While investigators believe parental neglect at least contributed to the newborn's death, final charging decisions will be made by prosecutors.
The sheriff told WTRF that the initial investigation left him and his investigators shaken.
"Any suspicious death is a tough call, but the suspicious death of a 1-month-old child in condition such as that — yeah, it'll leave a mark in our brains for a little while," Beatty added.
Authorities said each of the 28 charges corresponds to a day the child allegedly lived in those "deplorable" conditions. If convicted on all counts, Decapio and Taylor could face decades in prison.
Both defendants are currently being held at the Northern Regional Jail on $100,000 bond, records show. They are scheduled to appear for their preliminary hearings on April 6.
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