Springdale residents charged with child endangerment for 'deplorable' home conditions, drug use

A call to Springdale police to conduct a welfare check led to drug and child endangerment charges against two people.

Autumn Marie Jones, 42, and James Lewis Henderson, 30, are charged with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person and drug possession.

Police said they found “deplorable conditions” at the Pittsburgh Street residence when they were sent to check on two children, 5 and 8.

According to an affidavit filed by police, officers were dispatched after receiving a call from the 17-year-old sister of the two children who was requesting a welfare check at the residence.

When police arrived, they were met by the 8-year-old, who was holding a crack pipe and baggie of heroin, according the complaint.

Police located Henderson unconscious on the kitchen floor and Jones unresponsive — and apparently not breathing — in a bedroom, the complaint said. Officers revived Jones using Narcan and woke Henderson before sending the two to AHN Harmar Neighborhood Hospital, according the complaint.

The residence, according to police, had no running water and was filled with garbage. A crock pot contained rotting food. The children’s beds, police said, were “uninhabitable,” and the children told police they could not remember the last time they had eaten.

The two had been using a 5-gallon bucket as a bathroom, according to the complaint.

Police said they found drug paraphernalia and heroin in the home with the help of the 8-year-old.

A Springdale code enforcement officer declared the home unfit for human occupancy, and the property was boarded and secured by the borough, the complaint said. Police also contacted Child & Youth Services, according the complaint.

Jones’ and Henderson’s preliminary hearings are set for June 9. Henderson was denied bond as a “danger to the victims and the community.”