Texas woman arrested after a decomposing body was reportedly found in her apartment
01/20/2022 2:36 pm PST
ELECTRA, Texas (TCD) -- A mother was arrested this week after a decomposing body was reportedly found in the apartment where she and her young daughter live.
According to KAUZ-TV, on Dec. 1, the Electra Police Department responded to Electra Village Apartments to a report of a foul smell coming from a unit’s window. Officers reportedly knocked on the door with no response. They entered the apartment and found a decomposing body in the hallway.
Susan Smith and her young daughter eventually came home to the apartment, KAUZ reports. Smith reportedly told officers that the body belonged to the daughter’s father, Allen Wiest.
According to KAUZ, it is believed that Smith and her daughter had lived with the decomposing body for three to four weeks, though Smith did not report the death out of fear of eviction. According to KAUZ, Wiest was not supposed to be at the apartment.
The arrest affidavit obtained by KAUZ says the home was "unlivable," as there were open buckets used as toilets filled with human waste. There was also reportedly no running water, and rotting food and trash filling the apartment.
Smith was arrested on Tuesday, Jan. 18, and faces charges of endangering a child and tampering with evidence. She was booked into the Wichita County Jail with a bond set at $7,500, according to records.
The child, who had infected sores from bug bites, was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is under the care of Child Protective Services, KIRO-TV reports.
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