One Child Dead and Four Others Removed from a Phoenix Home with "Insects Crawling Out of Their

Four small children were removed from a home they shared with their parents in Phoenix, Arizona after a wellness check discovered horrible living conditions. The conditions were so bad authorities described the children as having living insects "crawling out of their ears".

Via WMAR News:

"Phoenix police report that on January 7, they responded to a home for an unresponsive child.

Phoenix Fire Department paramedics pronounced the 1-month-old boy dead at the scene around 11 p.m.

Police say there were a total of five children in the home at the time, two 1-month-olds, a 1-year-old, 4-year-old, and 6-year-old. While police were there, the other 1-month-old child began to have trouble breathing. The child was taken to the hospital where it was found to have "traumatic head injuries," and a brain bleed.

The Department of Child Safety removed the other three children from the home. During their evaluation, the other children were found "to have a lice infestation, covered in dirt, extremely soiled diapers, and insects crawling out of their ears." The 1-year-old was also found to have multiple skull fractures.

The 4-year-old child later reportedly told investigators that "Dada," 38-year-old Donald Roy Ferguson, threw the baby, who later died, to the ground. An autopsy report did not find any deadly traumatic injuries, but additional medical tests are being done."

Reports say that Ferguson was alone and supervising the children while their mother, 29-year-old Emmaline Amelia Ramirez, went to the store to get items for the children. At some point Ferguson called Ramirez and told her to come home because the baby was choking. Ramirez says that she returned home, gave the child CPR and the child was fine. Later that night she went to sleep and was awakened around 10:30pm to find her child unresponsive. Ramirez then called 911 and administered CPR again.

Ferguson admitted to becoming angry with Ramirez and hitting her but this wasn't an isolated event, Ramirez says that Ferguson often becomes enraged and when he does, he gets violent with her and the children hide under the bed and cry.

The Arizona Department of Children Services says that they have had several run ins with the family all over abuse.

Both Ferguson and Ramirez have been charged with seven counts of child abuse.