Police say Sandy Springs mom Beatrice Wright left 5 children alone in roach-infested home

A metro Atlanta mother is facing charges after police said she left five children home alone in squalid conditions.

Officers tell reporters neighbors called them to a townhome on Roswell Commons Way last week, complaining about children playing in the street at 2 a.m.

”It was a mess, said one neighbor who didn’t want to be identified. ”They were wild.

Police tell reporters when they arrived, they found a 12-year-old in charge of his four younger siblings, some of who were hanging out of a second-story window.

”He told us that his mom put them to bed at night, it was 11 o’clock when she put them to bed and went to a friend’s house, said Officer Lisa Holland with the Sandy Springs Police Department. ”He didn’t have a cellphone. There was no home phone, so the mom left the children home alone without any way to contact anyone if there was an emergency.

Holland said when officers went into the home, they were met with an overwhelming odor of urine.

”Rotten food all over the place besides the kitchen, it was in the living room, she said. ”Roaches were crawling on the rotten food. Officers went into the bedroom where the children sleep and saw roaches all over the bedding, all over the clothes piled up on the floor.

Holland said the roach problem was so bad, officers noted them falling from the ceiling in a bedroom.

”(They were) crawling up his leg, she said.

Police have charged Beatrice Wright with reckless conduct and placed the kids into protective custody.