Rogers County Sheriff Describes Deplorable Home Where Infant Died

A Rogers County couple is in jail while the medical examiner determines how their 7-month-old baby died.

Authorities have the couple for child neglect now - but say drug charges are possible because they found meth residue on one of the suspects. They aren't sure why the child died - but believe how the family was living had something to do with it.

In the middle of a group of dilapidated trailers - one stands out as being in particularly poor shape. It's surrounded by junk, but deputies say the conditions are far worse inside.

Pictures show the clutter, where a couple and three children were living, according to deputies. Every surface is dirty, covered with trash and deputies say that wasn't the worst of it.

8/4/2014 Related Story: Rogers County Couple Arrested After Death Of Infant Son

"Those pictures show exactly what's there but it no way does it give anyone the ability to smell the filth that you can smell even outside the residence," said Sheriff Scott Walton, Rogers County Sheriff's Office.

Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton says deputies arrested Jimmy Legates and Crystal Hogland Monday for child neglect. Their 7-month-old son died two weeks ago in what authorities described as suspicious conditions - which led them to search the house.

The couples other two children - a 3 and 7 year old - were taken into DHS custody.

"The 7-month-old baby came out of a house with more than deplorable conditions. This house reeked of every form of filth that you could possibly imagine," Walton said.

The house has exposed electric wiring - and no working plumbing. Mattresses were piled on top of the trash inside and the house was infested with insects and littered with animal feces, according to deputies.

"What makes it even that much worse is an innocent child who has no choice is how they're raised and the the food sources they do or don't have - but more than anything is just the filth," said Sheriff Scott Walton.

Investigators are waiting on the medical examiner for a cause of death. The sheriff said that should answer the question of whether the death was purely from neglect - or some outright injury.