BOSTON – A Boston city councilman is demanding answers after children are found inside a public housing apartment where an adult died in what has been described to him as a house of horrors.
The children have since been taken into state custody, state officials said.
First responders were called to the Mary Ellen McCormack complex, operated by the Boston Housing Authority, for a person who wasn’t breathing, but that’s not all they found when they entered a top-floor apartment , said Boston City Councilwoman Erin Murphy.
“A lot of drug paraphernalia and sex toys everywhere and then one of the firefighters said they heard a scream for help,” Murphy said. “That there were four kids in the back room and I heard that the adults in the apartment didn’t want the first responders to come back when they heard the kids calling for help, so that really worries me.”
Murphy wants the Boston Housing Authority to answer questions about how a situation like this happened in publicly funded housing.
Emergency crews responded to the apartment shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday, according to the police report. Boston Fire and EMS arrived first, followed by police. They found a dead adult. The cause of death remains under investigation.
Boston 25 obtained the report from the fire department, which matched the information from another source.
According to the fire department report I reviewed, firefighters found six adults “who appeared to be males” in the apartment, with four children in a back bedroom. One of the men tried to prevent first responders from entering the room where they found the children, who are between 5 and 10 years old. The adults were uncooperative and denied having children in the apartment, the report said.
“I’m still trying to piece it all together,” Murphy said.
The relationship between the four children and the adults is still unclear. Both the fire and police departments filed reports with the state Department of Children and Families. Police officers cited “home conditions.”
The Department of Children and Families said in a statement to Boston 25, “The Department of Children and Families has taken custody of the children living in the home.”
Neighbors said they know the apartment and something happened over the weekend, but they didn’t want to talk about it.
In a statement to Boston 25 about the case, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said, “We are aware of the incident and the investigation and will appropriately prosecute any arrests that result. At this time, there are no have issued charges.”
“At the end of the day, my biggest concern is what the kids were exposed to and what they were harmed in some way,” Murphy said.
In a statement to Boston 25, the Boston Housing Authority said, “The Boston Housing Authority is working closely with the Boston Police Department as they continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the recent death to Mary-Ellen McCormack BHA did not receive any complaints about activity in this unit prior to the incident, but we are deeply concerned about the safety of all our residents and are actively working with the agencies involved to take all measures appropriate monitoring systems. BHA has a strong partnership with BPD and communicates with them frequently. The only call BHA received this year about this unit was for a routine maintenance issue in May, which was adequately responded to at the time “.
Councilman Murphy expects the housing authority to appear before City Council this summer.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News at Facebook i Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2023 Cox Media Group
