Jessica Copeland, Palataka, Florida woman leaves teen son and seven emaciated dogs in feces strewn home for two weeks to on Las Vegas vacation.
A Florida mother is alleged to have left her teen son and seven dogs in a feces strewn home for two weeks while vacationing in Las Vegas.
Jessica Copeland, 37, was arrested on Tuesday, August 5th and charged with one count of child neglect, three counts of felony animal neglect and four counts of misdemeanor animal neglect according to the the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called to Copeland’s home on Monday, August 4, in Palatka, 60 miles south of Jacksonville after a family member called for a welfare check on a teenager living there.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they encountered an adult outside the home who told them he was cleaning before Copeland came home from a trip according to the Sheriff’s release.
‘The teenager came outside and told deputies there were no issues and everything was fine,’ the post stated. ‘Deputies cleared the call having no information to enter the home.’
But there was more to come.
Deputies returned later that day when another family member called, claiming he had ‘video of dogs being abused inside the home.’ The family member reportedly showed the video of ‘three severely emaciated dogs’ to investigators and said he believed there was no running water or food in the house.
The sheriff’s office said they weren’t made aware of the alleged animal abuse when they first responded to the home. The teenager let deputies inside the home, where they claim they saw ‘vile living conditions, [including] layers of animal feces on the floor.’
They also allegedly saw ‘garbage and debris littered throughout and several emaciated dogs without food and water,’ the statement reads.
While speaking with deputies, the teenager claimed Copeland left two weeks earlier, on July 21, to ‘go on vacation in Las Vegas,’ to celebrate her birthday and that different people would come to the house to check on him and bring him food.
The sheriff’s office said seven dogs were found inside the home, four of which were ‘locked in a bedroom covered in about four inches of feces.’ A fifth dog spotted in a cage was ‘severely emaciated.’ The rest of the dogs were in the living room also surrounded by feces. All of the dogs allegedly did not have adequate food or water, according to the sheriff’s office.
The teen (thought to be Copeland’s child) allegedly told investigators that the living conditions had been that way ‘for years’ because ‘Copeland maintains it that way and refuses to clean,’ according to the post.
The following night, Copeland was captured on body-cam footage being confronted by sheriff’s deputy, about the ‘deplorable’ living conditions, with the woman telling the officer that she ‘just got back from vacation.’
‘This isn’t just from two weeks,’ the law enforcement officer said. ‘The dogs are completely emaciated and at the point that they’re being starved to death.’
It is then that the woman is arrested.
‘The depravity of this situation is both heartbreaking and infuriating,’ Sheriff HD DeLoach said in a statement Wednesday.
‘A mother made the conscious choice to abandon her own child in a filth-ridden home, surrounded by the stench of animal feces and suffering of neglected animals while she indulged on a two-week birthday trip to Las Vegas.’
According to the sheriff’s office, the dogs were given to Putnam County Animal Services and upon rehabilitation, will be available for adoption.
It remained unclear if the teen would continue living with their mother.
Online jail records show Copeland being held on $36,000 bond.
