A Colorado man and woman are behind bars after police found an infant dead inside their Crowley County home last year.
The Crowley County Sheriff’s Office announced last month that Jason and Joy Soltani were being sought for charges including criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, and child abuse resulting in death, according to court documents obtained by KKTV 11.
Fox 21 previously reported that the pair was on the run in an alleged attempt to avoid the Department of Human Services after investigations uncovered an extreme case of child neglect inside their home. They were subsequently caught and arrested on April 24.
Arrest documents shed light on the accusations against them regarding a baby’s death and the alleged filth their children were forced to live in.
During the execution of a search warrant in August 2022 at the suspects’ residence in Ordway, police discovered a total of 10 people living in the home, including six “filthy” children under the age of eight that smelled of “human feces,” and an 18-year-old teen.
First responders also found an unresponsive infant in the home. CPR was performed on the baby before being transported to La Junta Hospital, where the infant was pronounced dead. The manner of death was classified as a homicide.
The suspects were unable to provide a birth certificate for the child, court documents state. Joy Soltani then reportedly provided conflicting birth dates and refused to speak with the sheriff.
“The coroner reported that he found the baby filthy, with dirt on feet, fingernails, and scalp with ‘a lot of wax build up in ears,” arrest documents read. “Parents would not accept the child’s death and claimed they were going to pray and have [name redacted] resurrected and initially refused to give custody of the child to the coroner for autopsy.”
“The house was filthy with trails to the rooms, sticky floors, children sleeping on piles of dirty clothes and dirty car seats. It was what law enforcement considers or calls a ‘hoarder house.’
“No one could identify where everyone slept, lived, and no one was able to identify where everyone slept, lived, and no one was able to identify where the dead baby was found or slept or who had last seen the baby alive, or who had put the baby to sleep last.”
The arrest warrant also indicated that the children were confined to their rooms and forbidden from playing outside. They were only fed one to two meals a day consisting of Ramen or cereal, and forced to eat out of a single bowl on the floor due to the cluttered state of the home, the arrest warrant read.
The baby’s cause of death question remains undetermined.
Meanwhile, the suspects remain behind bars. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Joy and Jason Soltani/Police Handout]
