Child, Drugs and a Dead Dog Found at Woodlands Park Apartment

When Marietta Police went to the Woodlands Park Apartments about 7 p.m. Friday, they made a gruesome discovery: a dead puppy surrounded by its own waste on the back porch and an 18-month-old child inside an unkempt one-bedroom unit without the most basic of necessities.

"There was no evidence of any baby food, bottles or any other necessary items needed to care for an 18 month old child," the officer wrote in Cobb County criminal warrants. "Only 4 diapers were found inside the residence and the narcotics located inside the home were hidden inside of a box that contained the childs doll."

Leaseholder Leonardo Knight, live-in girlfriend Candice May Fortune and roommate Jerron Maurice Moore were arrested on charges of cruelty to children in the first degree, cruelty to animals and marijuana possession.

They are all accused of exposing the child to guns, the distribution and sale of illegal narcotics and an unsanitary home covered in dog feces. Fortune is the child's mother, and had lived at the apartment in the 800 block of Franklin Road for the past couple of months, records show. Moore had lived there for two weeks.

"This particular residence was a one bedroom home but had luggage inside for 6 people other than those persons there on this date," the officer wrote in the April 12 warrants for the trio. "There was no bed for the child so the child slept with the mother and her boyfriend on their bed inside the room where the narcotics were located. The bedroom had a very strong odor of marijuana to it as well."

Knight allegedly had 3.4 ounces of marijuana; Fortune, 3.2 ounces; and Moore, 3.2 ounces. Inside the apartment, Marietta Police found digital scales and packaging materials, all items that are common in the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics.

On the back porch, the dead puppy was wrapped in a towel, tucked in the corner and surrounded by its own waste.

"It was discovered that the puppy had passed away the previous day," the officer wrote in the warrants. "The puppy looked very malnourished and unhealthy."

Knight, Fortune and Moore were taken to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center. Knight and Fortune remain there in lieu of $15,000 bond. Moore is in custody in lieu of $10,000 bond.

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