Jan. 3—WILKES-BARRE — A mother was arraigned Thursday with child endangerment 11 months after authorities say her 9-year-old daughter was found deceased inside her deplorable apartment.
Arlene Truitt, 30, of Parkview Circle in the Sherman Hills apartment complex, was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of children as city police detectives allege in court records her apartment was found cluttered with clothes covered with feces, floors covered with cat litter, garbage and food crumbs and multiple cockroaches.
Police discovered the condition of the apartment on Jan. 29, 2024, when authorities and emergency medical technicians responded to a report of a 9-year-old girl who was unresponsive. The girl was pronounced dead inside the apartment.
Two toddlers were also found living in the apartment that court records described as “in complete disarray and cluttered….and unreasonable for the three children.”
A message was left at the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office for Coroner Jill Matthews seeking the cause and manner of death for the 9-year-old girl.
Truitt remained jailed Friday at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $100,000 bail set by District Judge Thomas Malloy of Wilkes-Barre.