The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, March 9, 2012 Page: 3 of 12
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BY MIKE GUNNING
mike.gunnnlng@baytownsun.com
A hearing will be held
today in Liberty County to
determine the fiiture of 11
children taken from the
Dayton home of their grand-
mother by child protective
services almost two months
ago.
Tanda Marsh-Smith will
appear before the court to
appeal for the return of the
children, taken after a CPS
inspector determined the
children were not being well
cared for, and may have
been the victims of long
term abuse and neglect.
According to an affidavit
prepared by Cheryl Bourda
of Liberty County Child
Protective Services, there
was evidence of rampant
abuses, including tying
them to beds, beating them
among the hands and feet,
not feeding them regularly,
and possible sexual abuse.
Some who know the
woman say those allega-
tions are far from accurate,
and claim Marsh-Smith was
a good caretaker who would
never hurt her grandchildren
and home schooled them
with Christian curriculum.
The facts of the case are
still being debated, but
records show that Bourda
removed 11 children from
the Dayton home of Odice
and Tanda Marsh-Smith on
Jan. 24, alleging that some
of the children were tied to
beds for prolonged periods
of time, others had bruises
and missing teeth, showed
signs of neglect and mal-
nourishment and were not in
good health.
Bourda states there were
possibly 10 adults living in
the home with the children,
bringing the total to 21 peo-
ple in the house.
However, there are several
large sheds in the backyard
of the single story brick
home, and some of those
who claim to be the adult
children of Odice and
Tanda, claim to live in those
sheds until they can find
better housing.
Despite a flurry of media
attention and public outcry,
the case seems anything but
a slam-dunk. Even members
of the Dayton police depart-
ment, who were at the
Marsh-Smith house at the
time of the investigation,
dispute some of the facts
stated in the affidavit.
As a matter of fact,
Dayton police still have not
charged Marsh-Smith or
any of the other adults that
were in the house at the time
of the inspection that result-
ed in CPS taking the chil-
dren.
Marsh-Smith will be
expected to explain prior
run-ins she had with Child
Protective Services, includ-
ing facts surrounding her
losing custody of five chil-
dren while living in
Michigan in the early to mid
1980s.
Marsh-Smith will also
have to explain why one of
her sons, a convicted child
molester, gave her address
as his residence, but did not
live there.
The affidavit also alleges
that Marsh-Smith used to
sexually abuse one of her
sons and molested another
in what can only be
described as sexual torture.
Those allegations come
from a 2005 report that was
ruled “unable to determine”.
SCRATCH
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
will be decorated
green,
teal and brown, with green,
teal and orange used in the
Play Place. The overall
atmosphere will support the
company’s national move to a
“fast casual” concept.
The restaurant previously
had 40 workers, and the own-
ers plan to employ 70 when it
re-opens. (The previous
Neighbors have described
the household as one that
consistently drew police
attention, usually for
domestic disturbances and
noise complaints.
Police records show there
were several calls to the
house over the last two
years, but none that resulted
in an arrest.
Not one neighbor claimed
to know there were young
children in the house.
“I was shocked,” said a
neighbor, Wayne Hardin,
59, who is the pastor of
Grace Community Baptist
Church in Dayton. “The
people mainly stayed in the
house. They have not had a
good relationship with
neighbors at all. If you walk
on their sidewalk, they con-
sider that their property, and
they’ll go out there and
holler at people.”
“That’s really scary, don’t
you think?” said another
neighbor who asked not to
be identified.
“I knew they had a
teenager living there, he
would ride his skateboard
past the house, but little
kids? We never knew.”
employees were transferred to
other McDonald’s restaurants
when the Garth Road location
closed and are expected to
return).
WRITERS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
getting all of the basic iden-
tification data for the owner
of the license.
Then, the built-in camera
can read the bar code on the
vehicle’s windshield regis-
tration sticker. “When you
scan the sticker on the front
of the car, then it pulls up
license plate and make and
model. That way you don’t
have to sit back [in the
patrol car] and get on the
computer.”
What now takes several
minutes of information
gathering followed by even
more time of filling in
blanks on a form, is now
done in seconds.
Further, the hand-held
reader can get a photograph
of the person being ticketed.
That photo is part of the file
with the ticket, so if ques-
tions arise about the identity
of the person later, their
identity can be verified.
Finally, the person receiv-
ing the ticket signs on the
ticket-writer’s screen and
the officer prints out a copy
of the necessary informa-
tion. Even the printer is eas-
ily mobile, just large enough
to accommodate a roll of
cash register paper for print-
ing tickets.
Information from tickets
is electronically transferred
to municipal court records.
As she’s become more
comfortable using the
device, Shed has started to
see the promised time sav-
ings as well. “It’s getting
faster and faster,” she said.
The units (both hand-held
unit and printer) cost about
$2,500 apiece. The purchase
was approved by the city
council in July.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
neighborhoods, clean up the environment, and shut
down illegal enterprises.
The county attorney also protects children and the
elderly through the representation of state and coun-
ty agencies, defends the county when lawsuits are
filed against it, pursues claims and collects revenue
when the county is owed money; advises elected
officials and prepares county contracts.
None of that can be accomplished without having
the right people in place, Ryan said. He oversees a
department that employs over 80 attorneys and staff.
“That just means I manage a group of 80 people
that are smarter than me,” Ryan said.
Since taking office, Ryan has appointed an inspec-
tor general, formed a special prosecution unit that is
working to shut down properties that shelter criminal
activities, and created a separate environmental divi-
sion.
That environmental division has been staying very
busy.
Harris County has 14 superfund sites, with two in
Crosby, one in Channelview and two in Highlands.
Ryan said his office is going up against some of the
largest companies in the country to get them to take
responsibility for the remediation of several sites.
“We have evidence that supports that both
International Paper and Waste Management knew
what was being dumped at two sites by their prede-
cessors,” Ryan said. “That evidence goes all the way
back to 1965.”
Ryan said his office is pursuing a commitment by
both firms to own up and move past containment
operations and start clean up efforts.
“We are looking to hit them with a fine of about
$10,000 a day, dating back to 1965.” Ryan said. “We
believe the law is on our side on this.”
Ryan admitted that his office would have a hard
time collecting, but that wasn’t going to stop them
from keeping the pressure on the giant firms.
“We’re going to make sure they do it,” Ryan said.
“Either the easy way or the hard way.”
Ryan also addressed concerns that the county was
moving too slow to condemn abandoned properties,
and would also wait until the back taxes owed on a
property were higher than the value of the property
before taking collection matters in hand.
Ryan said most collection efforts were farmed out
to an outside firm.
“You’re right, there are a lot of properties that are
not on the (tax) rolls,” Ryan said. “We are working
on that and trying to improve that by bringing more
collections in-house.”
Those properties where back taxes can not be set-
tled go on the auction block.
Ryan said folks could find information on those
auctions on the county’s website. “If you’re interest-
ed in some pretty inexpensive pieces of property,”
Ryan said. “That’s the place to look.”
POLICE BEAT
Woman
interrupts
burglary
A burglar attempting to
steal from a residence in
the 3100 block of Ohio
Street ran off empty-hand-
ed when a resident found
him in the home and
screamed.
Police said the woman -
the mother of the home-
owner - walked in on the
would-be burglar about
9:45 a.m. Wednesday He
apparently was not aware
the home was occupied,
and ran when she yelled.
A neighbor who saw him
run off described him as a
16-18 year old Hispanic
man who was short and
heavyset. He has short hair
and was wearing blue
jeans. He got into an older
model gray passenger car
to flee. There was a young
Hispanic woman waiting
in the passenger seat of the
car.
Nothing was taken and
no one was injured.
Special
deliveries
• FedEx security person-
nel brought a package to
the Baytown police station
about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday
after finding a small
amount of marijuana in it.
It was marked for delivery
to a residence in Baytown.
Police said no one with the
name on the package lived
at the residence and they
could not find record of
any former resident by that
name. The package had
been sent from California.
• UPS reported a pack-
age containing drugs
bound for a Houston phar-
macy was found to be
missing Monday. Its arrival
at the Baytown UPS facili-
ty had been recorded late
last week, and records
showed it left the facility
but apparently never
arrived at its destination.
Burglaries
• Unspecified property
was reported stolen from a
vehicle in the 1900 block
of Interstate 10 Wednesday
morning.
• Numerous bags and
other items were reported
stolen from a vehicle
parked at a fitness center in
the 3500 block of Garth
Road between 5:45 and
6:30 a.m. Wednesday. A
window was broken out to
make entry.
• Unspecified property
was reported stolen from a
vehicle parked at a fitness
center in the 5000 block of
Garth Road between 5 and
6:45 a.m. Wednesday.
• A television was report-
ed stolen from an apart-
ment in the 1700 block of
James Bowie Drive
Wednesday morning.
• A residence in the 10
block of Cabaniss Avenue
was reported broken into
between 2 p.m. Tuesday
and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday
It was not reported if any-
thing was stolen.
• A game console, two
game controllers and other
low Cost
Pet Vaccinations
All Vaccines Available
Saturday; March 10th
9 am - 4 pm
Tractor Supply Company
6202 Garth Road • Baytown
Veterinarian On Premises
Heartworm Testing, Preventive, Frontline Flea Control
& Microchipping Available
^235*55 www.veteHiiaryiiiedicalcare.n0t
electronics were reported
stolen from a residence in
the 2500 block of East
James Avenue between 8
a.m. and 12:50 p.m.
Wednesday.
• Money, electronics,
jewelry and other items
were reported stolen from
an apartment in the 500
block of Massey Tompkins
Road between 4:30 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
• Electronics and other
property were reported
stolen from a mobile home
in the 2700 block of
Massey Tompkins Road
between 6 and 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday.
Thefts
• A vehicle was reported
stolen from the 2300 block
of Kipling Drive between
10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Feb. 28.
• Prescription eyeglasses
were reported stolen from
a business in the 5000
block of Garth Road about
3 p.m. Wednesday.
• An attempted theft of a
purse was reported at a
business in the 1500 block
of North Alexander Drive
about 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday.
28 offenses
Between Wednesday
morning and Thursday
morning, Baytown police
wrote 28 offense reports
and investigated incidents
including one assault, six
burglaries, four burglaries
of vehicles, one case of
criminal mischief, one case
of disorderly conduct, one
sexual assault and two
thefts. They also made
seven other arrests and
wrote five other reports.
During the same period,
police investigated nine
crashes, including two with
reported injuries.
(Bfue 'Harbor(l oot cRe[a\c
Back + Head + Foot
Massage = $20
281-838-8779
2221 N. Alexander Dr • Baytown
Cell: 626-216-4646
mm
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Yanelli, Adam. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 49, Ed. 1 Friday, March 9, 2012, newspaper, March 9, 2012; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1063725/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.