XENIA — The housing authority that owns the Xenia home where a 12-year-old girl was found dead in ‘filthy’ conditions last month is beginning its clean-up efforts.
Aaliyah Artis was found dead on June 8 at her house in the 1500 block of Texas Drive, according to a Xenia police report.
The Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority had filed eviction proceedings against Artis’ mother, Mary Artis, but News Center 7′s Mike Campbell learned, through court filings, that she voluntarily turned over her keys to the home Thursday afternoon, leading the GMHA to drop their eviction case.
The GMHA has now hired a contractor and started cleaning out the house, something neighbors were relived to see, but Aaliyah was still on their minds.
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“I was glad to see the dumpster as soon as I turned the corner, my heart still goes out to that little girl,” Holly Knight, of Xenia, said.
News Center 7 previously reported that Artis’ autopsy showed the home she was living in was “filthy.” A preliminary coroners report said she had ground-in dirt all over her body, along with bruises and numerous bed bug bites. Investigators have not ruled on Artis’ cause of death.
Tom Womacks, a bug elimination technician at Milts Termite & Pest Control in Xenia, said bed bugs are an “epidemic,” tough to clear out and can impact any home.
“I would like to probably go in and treat it , then have them throw everything away, then go treat it three times after that, once every two weeks,” Womacks said of Artis’ house.
A GMHA lawyer told News Center 7 that an extermination treatment was done prior to starting the clean-up. Still, neighbors said they were worried about the environmental danger the home posed to them and noticed the precautions that were being taken by workers cleaning out the house.
Womacks said neighbors of the home are not in more danger of a bed bugs outbreak compared to any other area because bed bugs do not travel well unless a pet transports them.