Mom Arrested After Toddler Found Outside Home Covered In Feces

A 29-year-old woman in Surprise, Arizona, has been arrested after a young boy was found alone outside Thursday afternoon, covered in animal feces.

Police responded to a call of a toddler walking by himself on a sidewalk in a neighborhood near Litchfield and Waddell roads, KOLD reported.

When they arrived, officers found the 2-year-old boy dressed only in a diaper and pants in 102-degree weather. The child’s body was covered in what appeared to be animal feces “from head to toe,” authorities said.

“The first thing I saw when I looked down the street was a baby, a young baby with no clothes on. He had pants on, but I saw there was a young child,” Angela Aspenson told KOLD. “I saw the young child start to run into the street, so I said, ‘We got to go down there.'”

Aspenson said she called the police after knocking on a few neighbors’ doors in an attempt to find the child’s parents.

“The baby had scratches on its arms and legs and everything and was really dirty. Hair dirty, fingernails, and feet. Obviously had been running about for a while,” she said.

It took an hour before the boy’s mother, Cheyenne Finney, came outside looking for him, according to police.

When officers checked the woman’s residence, they found it covered with feces and urine from five dogs and two cats that live there.

Sgt. Tommy Hale with Surprise Police described the conditions inside the home as “horrible,” according to the outlet.

“They (the conditions) were horrible, dog feces, the smell of urine, one officer describes it as in her report that her feet were sticking to the floor,” Hale said. “It’s just a sad thing when you see a child living in this kind of conditions.”

Fenney was arrested for child neglect and taken into custody.

Following Finney’s arrest, the child was evaluated and given medical attention before being turned over to the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

Court documents obtained by The Arizona Republic stated that Finney did not ask about her child during the booking process. However, her adult son came forward and said that the home was not clean enough or fit for children, according to the documents.

The docs stated that Finney allegedly leaves the child alone and stays in her room all day until her son comes home to change and feed the child.

Finney has been charged with one count of crimes against children, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.