GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Two parents have been charged with cruelty to children, accused of forcing their three young children to live in unsanitary conditions.
Warrants obtained by 11Alive show 27-year-old Dorien Green and 24-year-old Omi Smith allowed a three, four, and eight-year-old child, to "live with old food, urine, and feces all over the floors, walls, and bedding."
Neighbors, who wished to remain anonymous, described what they've been able to see throughout the past few months.
“The door was all the way open. It looked bad. There was trash all over the place," a neighbor said. "I saw clothing and bedding all over the floor. It looked very nasty.”
The neighbor also said the family had moved into the apartment about a year ago.
"They never said anything. I saw the young lady two times," another neighbor recalled. "She was standing out here… she didn’t even speak. She was very closed off."
Another neighbor recalled seeing a child outside for a brief moment.
"The pamper was hanging off the baby and the baby was coming towards the door outside," she said. "The mom didn’t realize the door was open. Looking inside their house, it was nasty. I don’t understand how anyone would live like that. I guess she got startled and got mad, and yelled at the little kid, and then she slammed the door."
The parents were arrested Monday afternoon.
Accused parents in Gwinnett County apartment incident
11Alive's Paola Suro went out to the Gwinnett County apartment at 8208 Holland Place in Lawrenceville, where she came face-to-face with Green, the accused father. He was out on bond Tuesday afternoon.
Green asked Suro why 11Alive was covering this story, to which she read the warrant out loud to him. Upon reading the part about living in a residence with "old food, urine, and feces all over the floors, walls, and bedding," Green said that is "not true."
Suro proceeded to ask him for an on-camera interview, to which he declined, citing an "ongoing investigation."
“I don’t feel like any child should have to go through that. It makes me very sick that they’re going through it and somebody came and noticed it," another neighbor added.
Gwinnett County Police said officers responded to a complaint about the living conditions of three children inside the apartment. Green and Smith were charged with three counts each of second-degree cruelty to children.
Police said the three kids are now under the care of the Division of Family & Children Services.
“It's sad because the family is torn apart, the kids are in social services and the parents are in jail, so I hope at the end the parents get the proper care they need and the kids get the proper care they need as well," a neighbor added.
Jail records show us that as of Tuesday afternoon, Smith, the mother, remains behind bars. Green is out on a $9,000 bond: $3,000 bond per count, according to the warrants obtained.
If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, call 911 or the Division of Family and Children's Services via phone at 1-855-GACHILD (1-855-422-4453), by fax at 229-317-9663 by email at cpsintake@dhs.ga.gov or visit its online website here.