WINCHESTER, Ind. - When Winchester police investigated a report of an unwanted person in a local apartment, they determined that individual was dead.
The occupant of the East Fourth Street apartment - 48-year-old Terri L. Alyea - on Monday was charged with neglect of a dependent over conditions in her home, which she shared with her daughter.
According to an affidavit, Winchester police were sent to the apartment on Dec. 17 "in reference to an unwanted person."
A relative of Alyea reported a man in the apartment - later identified as 47-year-old Christopher Lecklider - "wasn't supposed to be there."
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Officers found Lecklider in a bedroom and determined he was dead. The court document did not specifically refer to a cause of death. There were no suggestions foul play was suspected.
The neglect count filed against Alyea made reference to "a deceased male found in a bedroom," and also reported there were "rotten and moldy foods, trash and clutter" throughout the house, with no food found in a refrigerator.
A Winchester officer reported the apartment was "extremely filthy and cluttered" and had a "disgusting" odor.
Alyea, who reported she had been ill, was taken by ambulance to Reid Hospital in Richmond.
Department of Child Services officials said the girl in the apartment could be cared for by a family member.
The child said she had not gone into the room where Lecklider's body was found because she had been told "Daddy was in a bad mood."
A trial date has not yet been set in Alyea's case. The neglect charge is a Level 6 felony carrying up to 30 months in prison.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Winchester mother charged with neglect after body is found in apartment
