Officials: Mother of five charged after deputies find her and children squatting in home with no water

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

AUGUSTA, GA (WRDW/WAGT) -- A mother of five was charged with deprivation of a minor after what Richmond County sheriff's deputies found inside a Brown Street residence.

According to the sheriff's office, deputies were called to the home on Monday after reports from the home's landlord indicated a possible squatter at the home.

The landlord, according to deputies, told investigators that the previous tenant moved out of the home, but allowed his girlfriend and five children to stay until she obtained an apartment.

When deputies arrived, according to reports, they couldn't get anyone to open the door. But the mother, Crystal Hill, soon arrived with her 3-year-old son.

The report said deputies made it inside the home and found rotting food, an overflowing trash can, a queen size mattress on the floor, a toilet filled with feces because the water had been disconnected, and a coffee mug filled with urine.

Code enforcement was called to condemn the residence and DFACS was called to help with the children.

The children were eventually released into the custody of Hill's mother and others who were friends.