The Lexington Police Department arrested 31-years-old JULIA OWENS and 42-years-old JOSH HOOVER (both pictured) on cruelty to animals and child neglect charges.
In a news release, police said that on June 26, 2023, officers were dispatched to a residence on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to conduct a welfare check on two children.
Officers found a 5-year-old girl and a 9-year-old girl locked in a room. Police said they were malnourished, and physically abused.
Police also said that officers determined “the girls were being abused and neglected.”
Additionally, at the residence, police found “neglected and malnourished dogs as well as drug paraphernalia.”
I emailed the Lexington Police Department and requested additional information about the dogs. In an email the police spokesperson told me that one dog was a Pitbull mix and the other one was a Pug mix. “They were both adult dogs, I am unaware of the gender or names.”
To my question about the dogs’ well-being, I was told that both dogs were severely malnourished and were taken to the Davidson County Animal Shelter. A rescue group took in the Pug mix and on the night of Tuesday, June 27, 2023, he/she “had to have emergency surgery” due to having small children’s toys in his/her stomach (Orbeez beads). The spokesperson does not know the outcome of the surgery.
Additionally, police tell me that the Pug mix has some problems with his/her “rear legs that may have come from an old injury that wasn’t ever addressed.”
As for the Pitbull mix, he/she is still with Davidson County Animal Shelter.
I will try and email them to see what I can find out.
I also requested pictures of the Voiceless Victims but the photos are considered evidence and cannot be released at this point.
The investigation led to the arrest of girls’ mother, OWENS, and HOOVER “male acquaintance that also lived in the home.”
Police said they both are charged with two felony counts of cruelty to animals, two counts of felony child abuse/neglect resulting in serious physical injury, and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. The investigation is still ongoing, and further charges could be filed, said police.
Online arrest records show the pair are being held at Davidson County Detention Center on a $75,000 secure bond and are scheduled to appear at Davidson County District Court on July 31, 2023.
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Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.
Mugshot provided to Voice For Us by the Lexington Police Department.
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