FAIRMONT, W.Va. – A Fairmont woman is facing charges after leaving her children home alone and in deplorable conditions.
Witnesses told police Brenda Cottrell, 40, left the home without taking the two children with her. In the apartment, police found food smashed into the couch, and feces on the walls and floors.
Police made contact with Cottrell in the home and when they tried to talk to her she would not make eye contact and was having trouble speaking. Police then found a straw on the kitchen table with some white residue within reach of a child. Cottrell told police the white substance was Ativan that she ingested about three hours before.
A field test of the substance revealed it was methamphetamine.
Cottrell has been charged with child neglect and is being held in the North Central Regional Jail.