Baby Born In Bug And Trash-Filled Home Without Medical Care, Parents Found On Drugs

An Indiana couple has ended up behind bars on neglect charges after a child was born in a trash and bug-filled home without any medical care. Police said both parents were on drugs when officers arrived at their home in Evansville for a welfare check.

Deputies were called to the house in the 4500 block of Crestview Drive on Wednesday by an unidentified person who said the child was in danger, reported WANE 15.

The caller added that the baby had not received any medical care since its birth inside a mobile home a few days earlier.

The officers said that on arrival, the homeowner -- 33-year-old Clifford Johns II -- answered the door. However, Johns immediately shut the door to the deputies.

However, the officers obtained a search warrant for 31-year-old Sasha Drake, who was also inside the home. According to them, she was wanted for failure to appear.

Further search revealed trash and hoarding throughout the home from the floor to the ceiling. The officers found insects inside the house, and there was no power, and the temperatures were in the 30s.

"We didn’t see a place for the baby to even lay down on, no bed, no bassinet, we don’t know where the baby would sleep," Sheriff Dave Wedding told WLOX.

Drake was taken into custody. While questioning, Johns told deputies that their baby was born on Oct. 31 at home.

Authorities also recovered drug paraphernalia, a pill bottle with aluminum foil with a white powdery substance inside, along with an unused syringe. The white substance later tested positive for fentanyl.

The baby was taken to the hospital and is now in the care of child protective services. The authorities tested the child and found meth in her system. The baby has to go through the withdrawal process.

According to the child's mother, she used meth and heroin while she was pregnant. Johns also confessed to using illegal narcotics.

The couple said they did not take the child to the hospital because they feared the child protective services would take away the baby as they had done in the past.

Both Drake and Johns are booked in the Vanderburgh County Jail on neglect and drug charges. Both of them have a lengthy criminal history. Drake has several prior drug arrests, while Johns has several prior battery arrests.