Ohio parents face child endangerment charges after leaving 8-year-old with CP home alone

From the Canton Repository in Ohio:

CANTON, Ohio — The severely disabled boy was on the kitchen floor. Alone in his home. Unable to move.

At first, investigators feared 8-year-old Jevon Myricks-McNair might be dead.

They quickly learned he was alive, and now his mother and stepfather are facing felony charges of child endangering.

Alicia M. McNair, 25, and Jason A. Parsons, 27, appeared in Stark County Family Court on Feb. 5 where a magistrate placed Jevon and McNair’s three other children in the temporary custody of social workers with the Stark County Department of Job and Family Services.

Jevon, who has cerebral palsy and is quadriplegic, remains in a hospital, said Michael Vaccaro, legal counsel for the agency. The other children, ages 10 and under are with a relative.

McNair said her son has medical issues, but denied mistreating him or her other children.

“I’m a good mom and everybody that knows me knows that,” she said after the hearing.

Parson’s attorney declined to comment on the case.

The investigation started after county sheriff’s deputies responded Saturday to a
domestic incident at the home McNair and Parsons shared at 3830 Kaiser Ave. NE
in Plain Township.

Deputies arrested Parsons and “observed the home to be in deplorable condition,” according to a civil abuse and neglect complaint filed in Family Court by Job and Family Services.

An agency worker and a sheriff’s investigator with the Stark County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities returned to the home Monday to look into the living conditions, but no one answered the door.

When no one responded the following day, the deputy got a search warrant.

On Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies accompanied by an agency worker forced their way into home. They said they found Jevon on the kitchen floor. No one else was in the home.

An ambulance took the boy to Akron Children’s Hospital to be treated for “severe bedsores, lice and hygiene issues,” according to the agency complaint.

Vaccaro declined to speculate on how long the boy was unattended, but according to filings in Municipal Court, authorities believe the boy was alone for more than an hour.

In the home’s basement, investigators found Jevon’s bed. There was no lighting in his room, and the area was strewn with tubes, bandages, other medical supplies, and household chemicals, Vaccaro said.

At first, McNair told a deputy that her mother was supposed to watch Jevon while she was at work. She later said Parsons was supposed to care for the boy, although he was under court order to stay away from her due to the domestic violence allegation, according to the complaint.

If convicted, Parsons faces up to five years in prison on the child endangering charge. He remained in custody following his arrest Feb. 5.

McNair faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted of the child endangering charge filed against her. She is free on bond.

Following the court hearing, McNair said her house was in disarray because of Saturday’s domestic incident. Parsons was accused of threatening his wife with a gun. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge.

As for Jevon being alone on Wednesday, someone was supposed to be at the home watching him although she didn’t say who that was.

“It’s a big mess and a big misunderstanding,” McNair said.