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7 Kids Removed From Squalid Texas
Home July 18, 2007
By Betsy Blaney
 LUBBOCK,
Texas - A judge on Wednesday ordered seven children removed from
their rat-infested home strewn with dirty diapers after the mother's
miscarriage led to the discovery of the dead fetus in a baby wipe
box in the refrigerator.
Gloria Ramirez, 26, was four months
pregnant when she delivered the stillborn baby in her bathtub with
the help of her oldest child, a 9-year-old daughter, according to
court documents. Authorities came to the home after she called a
funeral home to ask about a casket for the fetus, a spokesman for
Child Protective Services said.
Anthony Moya, the 40-year-old
father of the six younger children, has been charged with seven
counts of child endangerment, and the same charges were expected to
be filed against Ramirez next week, Lubbock police Sgt. Scott Farmer
said.
When authorities arrived at the
dilapidated house July 7, they found stacks of dirty diapers _
nearly 4 feet high in closets _ throughout the house, along with
rat, roach and lice infestations, according to documents.
There was little food, and some of
the children told CPS investigators they ate only a hot dog out of
the freezer for breakfast that morning, having been prohibited from
opening the refrigerator, documents show.
"The lack of sanitation was just
amazing," Farmer said. "Trash is one thing but what they were
storing up was ... my goodness."
Decaying food lay around the home,
trash bins overflowed, and mattresses had no sheets and were dirty,
CPS spokesman Greg Cunningham said. Agency investigators suspected
the children were malnourished, he said.
The oldest child often was left to
care for the other six when Moya and Ramirez went out, court records
state. The children range in age from 11 months to 9 years.
The two youngest children were
taken to the hospital for suspected dehydration, and all seven had
to be treated for head lice, documents show.
The funeral home contacted a
Lubbock hospital after Ramirez called. An ambulance and police went
to the house, Cunningham said.
Ramirez also was taken to the
hospital because of the miscarriage, documents show.
After the children were removed, a
city code enforcement inspector cited the home for 37 violations,
including unsafe wiring, no working hot water heater, holes in
exterior walls and no proper connection to public sewer and water
systems, according to the report.
The attorney appointed to represent
Ramirez in the child custody case, Lisa Ratzke, declined to comment
Wednesday.
It was unclear whether Moya, who
was released $17,500 bail Saturday, had retained an attorney in his
criminal case. He received paperwork Wednesday to have an attorney
appointed in the custody matter.
Wednesday's ruling wasn't the first
time Ramirez and Moya have temporarily lost custody of their
children. In May 1999, CPS removed the oldest daughter and a son
Ramirez had with Moya for physical neglect, Cunningham said. Case
workers verified the allegations, and the parents completed a
program required by the agency, he said.
The two children were returned to
the parents in October 2000, Cunningham said.
Jeremy Acosta, the father of the
oldest child, said after the hearing that he knew about the first
removal.
"Is this the only time she's going
to get her stuff together when she gets her kids taken away?" he
asked of CPS workers in the hallway outside the courtroom Wednesday.
Judge Blair Cherry told Ramirez and
Moya that the agency's goal was to reunite the family.
"We want everything to work out the
way you want it to work out," he said. "We want to make sure they
get into a safe environment."
Later, Acosta said he was angry
when he learned about the conditions in the home.
"That's my little girl, my
daughter," Acosta said. "I trusted (Ramirez) with the life of my
daughter."
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