BLUEFIELD, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Two individuals were arrested on child neglect charges in late December during an investigation regarding a wanted individual.
Trooper First Class K.A. Filer with the West Virginia State Police reports that, on December 26, 2023, Mercer County 911 dispatched Trooper Filer to a Bluefield residence regarding Christopher Dempsey Jr. who was wanted by authorities.
When approaching the residence in question, Trooper Filer noticed two males standing outside. The individuals had made their way inside the residence by the time the trooper arrived.
After knocking on the door and identifying himself as State Police, the trooper was greeted by Christopher Dempsey Sr, who advised that Christopher Dempsey Jr. was inside the residence along with another male subject, a female subject, and two children.
An additional unit was called, and Trooper Filer attempted to enter the residence, but the door had been locked. No answer came when the trooper knocked on the door again.
Upon the arrival of Trooper J.M. Ayers, Trooper Filer was able to enter the residence and observed a female standing beside a male subject who reportedly appeared to be overdosed in a chair, along with two small children nearby.
The female, who falsely identified herself as Miranda Ellis, was asked about the whereabouts of Christopher Dempsey Jr. but refused to provide the information. Dempsey was eventually located in a rear bedroom in the residence, and was taken into custody on a felony warrant for a probation violation out of Tazewell County, VA.
The trooper was eventually able to awake the man unconscious in the chair who was advised as Jesse Parks and admitted to having taken two Xanax pills. On the kitchen table, multiple items of drug paraphernalia could be seen, including a syringe with an exposed needle which appeared to have just been used by Parks, along with pipes, and snorting straws.
The two juvenile children, ages 2 and 3, could be seen laying on a mattress just mere feet away from Parks and the aforementioned paraphernalia. The residence was reportedly piled with trash, packed with junk and general filth including a sticky substance all over the floor consistent with the smell of urine.
The residence was reported to have no heat, only electric heaters which were actively running dangerously close to fabric, including one in direct contact with the mattress upon which the young children were laying. The temperature at the time was 15 degrees.
Two out of the three exterior doors of the residence had been blocked from the inside, presenting serious risk in the event of a fire.
It was determined that the circumstances at the residence presented risk of serious injury as well as death to the children present. Christopher Dempsey Jr. and the woman purporting to be Miranda Ellis both advised that they were parents of the children, and both individuals were arrested by Trooper Filer.
After being transported to the West Virginia State Police Department Princeton Detachment, the female identified herself as Crysta Lusk, having previously provided a false name to both troopers on the scene due an existing felony warrant out of North Carolina for parole violation.
Crysta Lusk faces two counts of Child Neglect charges as well as one count of Providing False Information to a Trooper.
Christopher Dempsey Jr. faces two counts of Child Neglect and a Fugitive from Justice charge.
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