NEW: Dead Babies Found in Blackstone Home Were Fully Clothed

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Troubling new details have surfaced in regards to the horrifying conditions found inside a Blackstone home where three infants were found dead last month.

According to Assistant District Attorney John Bradley – who presented the Commonwealth’s evidence against Ericka Murray, the mother of the three children – at least two of the dead babies found were clothed and had been alive for some period of time.

“They found a skeleton of a young baby with a fairly full head of hair that was literally stuffed inside a backpack,” Bradley explained to the judge. “The smell of human and animal feces was overwhelming. There was trash throughout the home.”

It had been previously reported that the family living in the house was living in filth; dirty diapers, piles of trash, and the remains of animals were found in addition to the dead infants. The house is set to be torn down next week.

In addition to the three infants found dead, Murray had four children ages 6 months to 13-years-old, which were removed by the state Department of Children and Families.

Murray did not appear in front of the judge, who set her bail at $1 million. Murray has been charged with fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child. Prosecutors said that the charges against Murray could be upgraded after a grand jury investigation concludes.

Murray’s attorney Keith Halpern is suggesting that his client has not done anything malicious to harm the infants and said that she had spent 23 hours a day in isolation, out of concern for her safety, which could be a sign of mental instability.

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods

Neighborhood search website Neighborhood Scout indexed violent and property crimes data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations to determine the crime rates on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis in Worcester. The slides below show the overall crime index (a score of 100 is best) as well as the per capita crime rates broken down by violent and property crime. The data is sourced from 2011 figures, the most recent year available from the FBI. The online resource is created by Location, Inc., a Worcester-area company that bills itself as a leader of location-based data and risk analysis information.

NEW: Dead Babies Found in Blackstone Home Were Fully Clothed

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods

38. Heard Street

Crime Index: 83 (100 is safest)

37. Main St / Goddard Memorial Dr

Crime Index: 73 (100 is safest)

36. Westchester / Assumption

Crime Index: 70 (100 is safest)

35 (tie). Mill St / Worcester State U

Crime Index: 67 (100 is safest)

35 (tie). Oakland Heights / Massasoit

Crime Index: 67 (100 is safest)

33 (tie). Jamesville / Ludlow

Crime Index: 65 (100 is safest)

33 (tie). Burncoat

Crime Index: 65 (100 is safest)

31. Chadwick Square

Crime Index: 61 (100 is safest)

30. Sunderland

Crime Index: 60 (100 is safest)

29. Webster Square

Crime Index: 59 (100 is safest)

28. Westwood Hills

Crime Index: 57 (100 is safest)

27. North Worcester / Summit

Crime Index: 55 (100 is safest)

26. Pleasant St.

Crime Index: 48 (100 is safest)

25 (tie). Greendale

Crime Index: 47 (100 is safest)

25 (tie). Bloomingdale

Crime Index: 47 (100 is safest)

23. Clark U / Main St

Crime Index: 46 (100 is safest)

22. Tatnuck / West Tatnuck

Crime Index: 45 (100 is safest)

21. Lakeview

Crime Index: 43 (100 is safest)

20. Holy Cross / College St

Crime Index: 39 (100 is safest)

19 (tie). Columbus Park

Crime Index: 37 (100 is safest)

19 (tie). Hamilton

Crime Index: 37 (100 is safest)

17. Brittan Square

Crime Index: 34 (100 is safest)

16. Pinecrest

Crime Index: 33 (100 is safest)

Violent Crimes per 1000 residents: 5.65

15 (tie). City Center

Crime Index: 29 (100 is safest)

Violent Crimes per 1000 residents: 16.8

15 (tie). South Worcester

Crime Index: 29 (100 is safest)

13. Beaver Brook

Crime Index: 28 (100 is safest)

12 (tie). Swan Avenue

Crime Index: 24 (100 is safest)

12 (tie). June Street

Crime Index: 24 (100 is safest)

10 (tie). University Park

Crime Index: 20 (100 is safest)

10 (tie). Quinsigamond Village / College Hill

Crime Index: 20 (100 is safest)

8 (tie). Umass Medical / Lake Ave N

Crime Index: 16 (100 is safest)

8 (tie). Water St / Grafton St

Crime Index: 16 (100 is safest)

6 (tie). Beverly Road

Crime Index: 15 (100 is safest)

6 (tie). WPI / Highland St

Crime Index: 15 (100 is safest)

4. Oak Hill

Crime Index: 13 (100 is safest)

3. Belmont Hill / Shrewsbury St

Crime Index: 8 (100 is safest)

2. Chandler Hill

Crime Index: 6 (100 is safest)

1. Great Brook Valley

Crime Index: 4 (100 is safest)