Homewood mother charged after 3-year-old found nearly naked outside

Pittsburgh police allegedly found three children living in filthy conditions in a Homewood rowhouse after one of them was seen standing outside nearly naked in near-freezing conditions.

Police charged Stevatezia Terrelle Cha Mickel, 23, with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children on March 18, according to court records. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

Mickel has three children, ages 1, 3 and 6, the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, reported.

A woman driving by called 911 after seeing the 3-year-old girl standing on the sidewalk in front of Mickel’s rowhouse on Hamilton Avenue with only a towel covering her. It was around 9 a.m. and the temperature was 35 degrees.

The woman walked the girl inside, where she saw a baby alone on a couch. The baby had a soiled diaper that had not been changed in hours, WPXI reported police as saying.

Police said they found filthy conditions when they searched the home, including “feces, dirt and filth on almost everything,” the station reported. There was little food in the home.

WPXI reported that Mickel told police that she was in the bathroom when the 3-year-old, who knows how to open doors, went outside.

The children were placed in protective custody, according to WPXI.