A 25-year-old Kansas man has been charged with the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl neighbors say was living in a homeless encampment with her teenage sister and father after her mother kicked them out of the house.

Mickel Cherry was charged with capital murder, first-degree murder, and rape this week in the death of Zoey Felix, KCTV reports.

Officers responded Monday evening to  a Topeka gas station, where they found fire personnel trying to save the little girl. She was taken to a hospital and there pronounced dead.

Cherry was arrested Tuesday morning and is being held on a $2 million bond, jail records show.

But the story didn’t start Monday night

Neighbors of the girl’s mother said that they’d repeatedly called police and Child Protective Services about the living conditions at the house and the child’s treatment, most recently in early September, when police found the power had been shut off at the home, the Topeka Capital-Journal said.

“Officers made contact with residents of the home who confirmed there was no electricity and then spoke with the custodial parent of the child, who confirmed the child had not been staying there because there was no power,” the police report on the visit said. “Officers then met with the child who was in good spirits and apparent health and the child was left in the care of their parent, per the custodial agreement.”

But neighbors said the little girl had been living in the house, at least until about two weeks ago, when the mother kicked out Zoey, her father, her teenage half-sister, and Cherry, who also had been living in the house.

Sheryl Tyree doesn’t live in the neighborhood but frequently visits. She told the Capital-Journal she gave Zoey a bath three weeks ago, clothed her, and combed her hair.

“She hadn’t had a bath in so long because that house had no running water, had no heat, air (conditioning), for months,” Tyree said.

Neighbor Shaniqua Bradley told KSNT Zoey frequently visited neighbors, sometimes asking for food or water, other times just to play with neighborhood children.

“We would clean her up and comb her hair, whatever needed to be done,” Bradley said.

“Zoey did not deserve to be in anybody’s woods,” neighbor Sharon Williams said. “This is her home right here. She has one, two, three, four, five people that would do anything for her.”

Williams, who said she reported the neglect she saw, said Zoey was  “always dirty, no food unless some of us fed her, but they didn’t obviously take it serious.”

The Capital-Journal reported that Zoey’s mother, Holly Felix, 36, pleaded guilty March 20 to felony reckless aggravated battery causing bodily harm with a deadly weapon or in a manner whereby great bodily harm can be inflicted. The victim, court records show, was “Z.F.” with a 2018 birthdate, Zoey’s initials and birth year. Her sentence was suspended and she was given 18 months probation.

Out of state relatives, who said they had no idea of the conditions the family had been living in, told the newspaper that Holly Felix had since left the home because people were “trashing” the yard and causing disturbances.

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[Featured image: Zoey Felix/handout and Mickel Cherry/Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office]