Overview
- A Dollar General employee reported the girl after seeing her stagger along a Mobile County road, triggering the investigation.
- A January 5 search of the trailer documented floors fouled by feces and insects, a bathtub of dark water, one dead dog, and six dogs seized by Prichard Animal Control.
- Investigators found a note titled “How many times mom tells me that she can’t pick me up!” with more than 80 tally marks.
- Mother Marchelle Pertilla and stepfather Eugene Medrano were arrested on child abuse and multiple animal cruelty charges, and two other children were removed from their Florida home.
- The teen received hospital care and is now with Alabama’s Department of Human Resources, and the parents are scheduled to appear in court on January 27.