Uniontown couple charged in child’s death had been reported to Greene County CYS
CARMICHAELS – The Uniontown couple charged last week with starving to death their 23-month-old daughter were living in deplorable conditions with their three children in a Greene County apartment a year earlier, the constable who evicted them said Monday.
Constable Bill Lewis said he was shocked by living conditions when he served paperwork to evict Andrea Elise Dusha and Michael Wright Jr. from their Cumberland Township apartment Feb. 24, 2015.
Exactly one year later, the couple’s child, Lydia Wright, died from starvation after being left in a car seat for more than 13 hours outside their Uniontown home, investigators said. The girl weighed just 10 pounds and died from malnourishment, according to an autopsy.
Dusha, 26, and Wright, 32, were charged Thursday with homicide and child endangerment. Two other children were removed from their custody.
Lewis called Greene County Children and Youth Services hours after evicting the couple from their Cumberland Village apartment in February 2015, raising concerns about sanitary conditions with the children and a potential fire hazard. He’s unsure how the case was handled or if it was ever transferred to Fayette County authorities when the couple moved to Uniontown.
During the eviction – which the landlord initiated in August 2014 because of accumulating garbage that attracted roaches, court records indicate – Lewis found the couple was using an open stove to heat the apartment and that garbage and other items were littered across the stove and kitchen floor.
“You could smell something burning,” Lewis said. “I told her, ‘What are you doing? Are you trying to burn down the place?'”
Garbage, clothing and children’s toys were “stacked all up” around the apartment in every room and a young boy and girl were sleeping on the couch, Lewis said. Lewis, a state constable for 24 years, said he has seen similar wretched living conditions, but never with young children in the house.
As he walked back into the kitchen, he found a baby carrier covered with blankets and surrounded by garbage. He didn’t realize until a few minutes later the infant, Lydia, was in the carrier.
It was the second time in less than three years Lewis had evicted Dusha from a residence. He served an eviction notice in December 2012 while she was living at Parkview Knoll in Cumberland.
“You had to see it to believe it,” he said. “It was deplorable. This was unbelievable. It was sad.”
But Lewis said Dusha appeared to be more concerned about being able to retrieve a large, flat-screen television as he ordered her to leave the house.
“She was very belligerent,” Lewis said.
Lewis later spoke to a Greene County CYS caseworker who told him she was previously assigned to a case involving the couple.
“They said they’d take care of it,” Lewis said. “I told them what the conditions were. These kids shouldn’t be living like this.”
He went a year without hearing back from CYS until shortly after Lydia’s death when a caseworker with Fayette County Children and Youth Services called him asking about his initial report one year earlier. He’s unsure if his initial call was ever transferred to Fayette County authorities for further investigation.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Lewis said of Lydia’s death. “Sad, because nothing was done with her. All of the kids.”
Greene County CYS Director Stacey Courtwright did not return a phone call seeking comment on the initial investigation. A worker for Fayette County CYS said he could not release any information on the case. A state Department of Human Services spokeswoman said Monday afternoon the agency was reviewing the situation and expected to release more details later.
“From the sounds of it, (the initial report) didn’t get there,” Lewis said of his conversation with the Fayette County caseworker. “Whatever mistakes were made, that child paid for it.”
Dusha, who grew up in the Clarksville area and attended Jefferson-Morgan High School, and Wright are both being held without bond on homicide charges at the Fayette County jail.