Aaliyah’s mother, 42-year-old Mary Artis, was indicted Tuesday for three counts of felony child endangering, based on “deplorable living conditions” found when Xenia police and medics were called around 2:20 p.m. June 8 to a home in the 1500 block of Texas Drive after a 911 caller said Aaliyah was not breathing, according to the release.
Despite efforts to revive her by her mother and first responders, Aaliyah died at the scene, three days after her 12th birthday.
“There is no evidence at this time to suggest Aaliyah’s death was purposeful. Mary Artis has cooperated with the investigation,” the release stated.
Artis of Xenia was issued a summons to appear for her May 6 arraignment in Greene County Common Pleas Court.
A Greene County Coroner’s preliminary investigation report, reviewed by the Dayton Daily News through a public records request, documented the condition of the home.
“The residence was found in filthy condition, with partly consumed food and trash in all rooms and evidence of insect infestation,” the report stated.
Photographs in the report showed trash piled in rooms.
A preliminary autopsy, also reviewed by the newspaper, said her body had multiple abrasions, bruises and bedbug bites, the report stated.
The autopsy also noted the girl had a green discoloration of the tongue and green fluid around her nose and mouth. The preliminary autopsy also cited bilateral pleural effusion, sometimes referred to as “water on the lungs” according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The investigator’s report stated the mother told police she had given Aaliyah three packets of Children’s Tylenol powder several hours earlier because she complained of back pain. And when she tried to wake her, the girl was unresponsive.
“Aaliyah enjoyed watching cartoons, coloring, riding her bike, playing outside and dancing with her sisters,” her obituary read.
Records obtained by the Dayton Daily News also showed that Xenia police were called to check on Aaliyah at her home months before her death and that Greene County Children Services also had been alerted. A protest took place last July outside the children services offices.
One other child and one adult sibling were found living with their mother at the residence, the conditions of which were described as “among the worst seen by investigators,” the release stated. The siblings were immediately removed from the home and placed in the care of another family member.
