THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
'DAMIEN'S' GIRLFRIEND MAY FACE DHS ACTION
Thursday, June 10, 1993
By Marc Perrusquia
The pregnant girlfriend of the West Memphis murder suspect known as Damien could be taken into protective custody if the filthy mobile home she lives in is not cleaned up, the girl's mother said Wednesday.
Dian Teer, 43, said agents of the Arkansas Department of Human Services visited her home in the Lakeshore Estates trailer park with an ultimatum: Clean up or possibly lose custody of 16-year-old daughter, Domini.
Domini is the girlfriend of Michael Wayne Echols, 18, one of three teens charged last week with the murders of three 8-year-old West Memphis boys. Echols, who took the name Damien several years ago, lived off and on in the trailer with Teer and her daughter.
Teer said publicity has made life difficult. Since the arrests of Echols and two other Friday, Teer said residents have pressured her to move.
Teer said DHS agents visited her home Wednesday morning after receiving a complaint about living conditions.
"It would take a couple of months at least to save up enough money to (move) because I'm on a very limited income," Teer said. "I wish people would just leave us alone. We want to live our lives like anybody else."
Gloria Stevenson, DHS supervisor in Crittenden County, declined comment. Tom Dalton, director of the DHS in Little Rock, said he couldn't confirm whether agents visited the Teer home, but said the state has power to temporarily
remove a child from an abuse situation caused by unsanitary conditions and place the child in a foster home.
A reporter who visited the trailer Friday found the floor in one room covered in cat feces, while garbage and food were throughout the home.
DHS agents "said we have to clean up the place," Teer said Wednesday. "I already knew that. That's what we've been doing the last few days."
Teer said her landlord plans to tear down a two-room annex on the mobile home. Teer also denied earlier reports that her landlord, Pam Hollingsworth, planned to evict her.
Teer also took issue with widespread rumors about satanic activity in the mobile home park.
"I do not worship the devil," she said, saying she believes in Jesus and was going to church that night.
Echols, Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 17 were arrested last week in the slayings of three second-grade boys. In a statement given to police, Misskelley said Echols and Baldwin sexually mutilated and killed the boys as part of a cult ritual.
'DAMIEN'S' GIRLFRIEND MAY FACE DHS ACTION
Thursday, June 10, 1993
By Marc Perrusquia
The pregnant girlfriend of the West Memphis murder suspect known as Damien could be taken into protective custody if the filthy mobile home she lives in is not cleaned up, the girl's mother said Wednesday.
Dian Teer, 43, said agents of the Arkansas Department of Human Services visited her home in the Lakeshore Estates trailer park with an ultimatum: Clean up or possibly lose custody of 16-year-old daughter, Domini.
Domini is the girlfriend of Michael Wayne Echols, 18, one of three teens charged last week with the murders of three 8-year-old West Memphis boys. Echols, who took the name Damien several years ago, lived off and on in the trailer with Teer and her daughter.
Teer said publicity has made life difficult. Since the arrests of Echols and two other Friday, Teer said residents have pressured her to move.
Teer said DHS agents visited her home Wednesday morning after receiving a complaint about living conditions.
"It would take a couple of months at least to save up enough money to (move) because I'm on a very limited income," Teer said. "I wish people would just leave us alone. We want to live our lives like anybody else."
Gloria Stevenson, DHS supervisor in Crittenden County, declined comment. Tom Dalton, director of the DHS in Little Rock, said he couldn't confirm whether agents visited the Teer home, but said the state has power to temporarily
remove a child from an abuse situation caused by unsanitary conditions and place the child in a foster home.
A reporter who visited the trailer Friday found the floor in one room covered in cat feces, while garbage and food were throughout the home.
DHS agents "said we have to clean up the place," Teer said Wednesday. "I already knew that. That's what we've been doing the last few days."
Teer said her landlord plans to tear down a two-room annex on the mobile home. Teer also denied earlier reports that her landlord, Pam Hollingsworth, planned to evict her.
Teer also took issue with widespread rumors about satanic activity in the mobile home park.
"I do not worship the devil," she said, saying she believes in Jesus and was going to church that night.
Echols, Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 17 were arrested last week in the slayings of three second-grade boys. In a statement given to police, Misskelley said Echols and Baldwin sexually mutilated and killed the boys as part of a cult ritual.
