Official seeks to condemn house after baby bitten by rats

A city official seeks condemnation of a Magnolia rental property where a 15-day-old girl suffered between 75 and 100 rat bites earlier this month.

City inspector David Nelson wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to the property’s owner that the home at 214 S. Cordelia violated building codes “because [of] holes in walls, unlevel floors [and] plumbing issues.”

Nelson told the property owner, Jim Brewster of Magnolia, he has 20 days to fix the violations.

The home has become part of an investigation recently after the girl was bitten all over her 5-pound body while sleeping near her parents in a bassinet inside a bedroom.

The girl’s parents, Erica Shryock, 19, and Charles Elliott, 18, face charges of permitting the abuse of a minor and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. Shryock and Elliott, who admitted being aware of a rodent issue inside the residence, did nothing to address the problem, according to police.

The girl was taken initially to a Magnolia hospital but was soon transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, where she underwent surgery for facial reconstruction involving an open wound to her head.

Dr. Karen Farst of Arkansas Children’s Hospital noted that the baby suffered “severe skin destruction from rat feeding” that happened over hours, according to an affidavit.

The physician added that, in her opinion, the parents would have had to have been incapacitated or absent to have not been alerted by the child’s screams and crying, the affidavit said.

The matter against the property is scheduled to go before the Magnolia City Council at 5 p.m. June 26, at which point the home could be condemned.

The inspector said that the city, upon finding that the property is a nuisance, would remove the structure and charge the owner “for the costs thereof, which, if left unpaid, could result in a lien on and against your property.”

Nelson said officials are willing to remove the structure for $750 or assist in cleaning up the property.