Aurora father waives hearing on child neglect charges
Mar. 23—MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — An Aurora man waived a preliminary hearing Monday on neglect and endangerment charges that he and his wife are facing regarding care of their five children.
Joey L. Brown, 37, waived the hearing in Lawrence County Circuit Court and was ordered to stand trial on three counts of child neglect and two counts of child endangerment. Associate Judge Scott Sifferman set the defendant's initial appearance in a trial division of the court for May 10.
Brown and his wife, Angel Brown, 33, are accused of keeping an unsanitary home and failing to properly tend to the supervision, dressing and hygiene of their children.
A probable-cause affidavit states that a police officer responding a year ago to a report of children playing in Oak Park in Aurora with no adult supervision located two boys, ages 3 and 5, there with their 1-year-old and 12-year-old sisters.
The children, who purportedly had been observed running out into the street at times, did not have shoes or coats on in on a windy day with temperatures below 50 degrees, according to the affidavit. The youngest girl was wearing a soaked diaper.
They were taken home to their mother, who acknowledged that she had been asleep and did not know that her children went to the park unattended. A third girl, 6 months old, was located in the house smelling of cat urine and ammonia, and the officer saw trash, used diapers, dirty clothes and fecal matter scattered throughout the residence, leading to a decision to have the children removed from the home and placed in temporary state custody.
Angel Brown waived a preliminary hearing in January on the same charges as her husband and is awaiting trial.
