Inset left to right: Marchelle Pertilla and Eugene Medrano (Mobile County Sheriff's Office). Background: The inside of the residence where the couple allegedly left a 14-year-old girl to live alone in Mobile, Ala. (Google Maps).
A woman and man were recently arrested in Alabama after leaving a 14-year-old girl to live alone in squalor with seven dogs, Yellowhammer State law enforcement say.
Marchelle Pertilla, 43, and Eugene Medrano, 52, stand accused of one count each of child abuse and aggravated cruelty to animals, according to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office. Pertilla is also facing six counts of second-degree dog cruelty; while Medrano is charged with five counts of second-degree dog cruelty.
On Jan. 4, the girl in question was seen stumbling down Jarrett Road in Mobile by an employee at a Dollar General store. That employee made contact with the 14-year-old – who complained of stomach pain and dizziness – and then reached out to the sheriff's office.
The girl was first taken to a nearby hospital for an evaluation, according to a sheriff's office release obtained by Mobile-based CBS affiliate WKRG. There, she spoke with deputies and child advocacy workers.
The girl allegedly said she had been living alone in a mobile home in Alabama since February 2025 and had last seen her mother, Pertilla, and stepfather, Medrano, on Oct. 31, 2025.
As the investigation continued, deputies determined the girl was not entirely uncared for; her mother allegedly sent her food and supplies by way of DoorDash and Walmart deliveries.
Inside the trailer, however, investigators found a vast depth of filth – and one of the aforementioned dogs dead in a closet, deputies said. Investigators surveying the residence said they found it littered with urine, feces, insects, trash, and various other bits of miscellany.
As it turned out, the couple had been living and working in Pensacola, Florida, all the while, the girl told authorities.
Eventually, Pertilla and Medrano arrived at the hospital where the girl was kept under observation. They spoke with detectives before being arrested on the multiple charges against them.
"When asked why their daughter was left alone, the mother stated the juvenile did not want to leave her service animals," the sheriff's office said in the news release about the incident.
As for those seven dogs: Three were living outside, three were living inside, and one was dead in the closet.
"We are continuing to search for answers on why this young girl was living alone and whether or not others tried calling law enforcement," Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said in comments reported by Tampa, Florida-based NBC affiliate WFLA. "Thank goodness for the employee with Dollar General who contacted the county."
Deputies said they also found a harrowing handwritten note in the child's sleeping area entitled: "How many times mom tells me that she can't pick me up." That note is said to have had 87 dash marks.
"Which would lead one to believe that at least 87 occasions she wanted her mom to come back up," Burch mused in comments to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based ABC affiliate WHTM. "And she didn't."
The sheriff said the girl and her mother primarily communicated through Snapchat and that she was putatively homeschooled, in comments to Pensacola, Florida-based NBC affiliate WEAR.
"This is physical abuse, but I would say it's more emotional abuse, you know," Burch said. "For a child that age – because I have one not too much younger than that – I can't imagine the emotional part of just knowing your parents just leave you to fend for yourself."
Since the couple were arrested last weekend, two other children have been removed from their Pensacola residence, the sheriff said.
"It's a horrific case," Burch added. "It's another example of a parent not being a parent."
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