Muncie mom kept children in dirty apartment full of bugs, police say

MUNCIE, Ind. — Court documents reveal that police ended up searching a Muncie apartment that was infested with bugs, rotten food and so filthy that officers noted a “slimy,” “wet film” on the floors.

During the search, officers discovered two children under the age of 4 sleeping on a couch and a pack ‘n play set up on a floor littered with leftover food, bugs and trash.

Alexus S. Sutliff, 22, was arrested on Monday on preliminary charges of neglect of dependent, a Level 6 felony.

According to court documents, Munice police officers were called out to Carriage House Apartments on Everett Street after midnight on reports of suspicious activity.

Officers reported arriving on scene and locating a stolen vehicle that several suspects were attempting to spray paint. Police ended up entering the apartment complex in search of one of the suspects and spoke to Sutliff, who was related to the suspect police were searching for.

Sutliff reportedly granted the police officers permission to search her apartment, claiming no one was inside but her and her children. When officers entered the apartment, they noted instantly how filthy the apartment was with bugs on the ceiling and walls and trash and food scattered about.

Officers noted rotten meat, both cooked and uncooked in the kitchen, and trash and old food scattered about the apartment. Food had also reportedly been left to rot in pots and were covered with bugs.

“The bugs in the home were in every room with the amount of food scraps that had been left everywhere,” one police officer wrote. “As I was walking through the home the floors were slimy and had a wet film to them.”

Police ended up calling the Department of Child Services to help document the condition of the apartment where two young children were found sleeping.

Sutliff reportedly told the police she had planned on cleaning the apartment tomorrow after going to the dollar store to pick up cleaning supplies. But a relative reportedly arrived on scene and confirmed to the police that the filthy state of the home was “normal,” court documents reveal.

While searching the apartment, a male subject was found in a children’s bed next to a knife. Police said the male subject had an active warrant and was taken into custody.

The Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office will determine final charges in this case.

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