Seven kids safe after living in squalor at a home in 29 Palms

Two parents in 29 Palms are facing child neglect charges Monday, accused of forcing their seven children to live in filth. The children have been removed from the home, some might call a “house of horrors.” Their parents, 26-year-old Arsenio Jones and 31-year-old Danielle Reid were arrested at their home on Foothill Drive in 29 Palms. Police also arrested 31-year-old Brandon Brown.

From the outside, the home doesn’t look much different than any other house on the street, but inside its a different story.

“Deputies said it was a terrible scene. The house was absolutely filthy, there was rotten food throughout, there were plumbing issues that didn’t work. Trash and just filth through the house to the point where it was just uninhabitable for any human, being much less seven children,” said Sgt. Derek Garvin.

Monday friends of the family tried to clean up the mess, they declined to speak with us on camera. We talked with one neighbor across the street who claimed to know about the horrible living conditions. Rachel Eggleston lives down the road and says no child deserves this.

“It’s heartbreaking because children don’t deserve that, like I told you I’m from a family of seven and that’s ridiculous. It’s not hard to take care of a child I don’t have any children but it’s not that hard,” said Eggleston.

On Saturday, sheriff’s deputies stopped Arsenio Jones and Brandon Brown in a traffic stop. They arrested both men and the children’s mother, Danielle Reid, when they saw the inside of the home where they lived. The parents, Jones and Reid, could face time in state prison for felony child endangerment. The fate of the seven children remains uncertain.

“Typically they were taken into protective custody with Children’s and Family Services. They’ll go through the procedures in court whether they remain in foster care or can go to a suitable family member. That’s all looked at by CFS and the court system and they try to keep the kids best interest in mind,” Garvin said.

Eggleston said she’s surprised the hear something like this happen in her neighborhood. But Garvin said this happens too often.

“Unfortunately we see these a lot more often than I would like houses that we wind up at for unrelated reasons and seeing similar cases over the years where kids are stuck living in absolute filth. It’s heartbreaking,” said Garvin.

Deputies said they had no previous calls or complaints at this home.