WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — A Mingo County couple are facing charges after deputies say their young child was found walking naked in the middle of the street by themselves.
Zachary Wayne Johnson, 27, and Kailee Madison Gerardi, 25, have been charged with one count of child neglect causing injury, four counts of child neglect creating risk of injury and one count of animal abuse.
Mingo County authorities were notified at around 1 a.m. Friday about a small child that was walking unclothed in the roadway near the 100 block of Fifth Avenue in Williamson. According to reports, the 911 caller took the child home and gave them clothes until first responders arrived.
The child was taken to a local hospital after deputies went door to door in an attempt to find the child’s parents.
A criminal complaint stated that the child had multiple bruises on their body and when first responders tried to brush the child’s hair, they were unsuccessful due to “severe matting and dirt.”
Gerardi, who was described as the mother in the criminal complaint, eventually came to the hospital. She told deputies she had left her husband Johnson with the child and their four other children while she was staying at a friend’s house.
Gerardi also told authorities that the four-year-old child was autistic.
Child Protective Services then went to Johnson and Gerardi’s home where they reportedly found the other four children sleeping on a single mattress in the living room. Investigators found used diapers on the floor and a cat food dumped on the kitchen floor, as well as a broken window with sharp edges.
All five of Johnson and Gerardi’s children were placed into custody of CPS.