Ohio Dad Kept 7-Month-Old Baby in Same Room as Mom’s Dead Body, Police Say: ‘She Smelled of Cigarette and Marijuana Smoke’

An Ohio dad has been arrested after his 7-month-old daughter was found living in the same room as her dead mother, who the dad never reported had died, police said.

Police were conducting a welfare check on Geri Mays, 34, the girlfriend of Troy Mahaffey, 32, when they arrived at the family’s hotel room at the Days Inn & Suites on Lebanon Road, according to a police report. Mays was found unresponsive on one of the two beds in the room. Court records said that she is believed to have died from an overdose.

After Mahaffey let police in, he told them “she was passed out and then audibly laughed while saying it,” the report stated.

As reported by FOX 19, the 7-month-old baby was found wearing a soiled onesie meant for a 3-month-old. “She smelled of cigarette and marijuana smoke,” police wrote in the sworn statement.

The statement continued, “The formula inside her bottle was curdled, and she had an untreated diaper rash. (The baby’s) hair was matted and unkempt as if she had not been bathed in quite some time. She was reluctant to straighten her legs as if she had been kept in a car seat for exorbitant periods. (The baby) never attempted to crawl or roll over when on the floor, which is inconsistent with age.”

First responders believe that Mays had died hours before police arrived. However, Mahaffey said he found Mays only an hour or two before police did. He said he “waited like 10 minutes” before trying to get help, saying that he even attempted to put her in the tub “to try to bring her back and figure out what was wrong with her,” according to reports.

The report stated that Mahaffey “never explicitly stated that he called the police or ambulance,” but did say that “he had called like twenty people despite earlier stating that his phone was dead.” Police later determined that Mahaffey gave “inconsistent” statements.

Detectives were told that officers believed that Mahaffey was a suspected drug dealer and that another man and a woman were also in the room when police arrived and were there to buy drugs.

“All parties had smoked crack cocaine last night, except for Troy, who smoked marijuana (with the child present). Everyone spent the night in Room 153,” the report stated.

The pair told police that they had arrived to help the family move, but during a private conversation with police admitted that they had arrived the night before “and smoked crack and so did Mays,” according to the report. They said that earlier that morning, Mays had been complaining about her chest hurting, but declined an ambulance.

The man and woman said they fell back asleep but were woken up by Mahaffey 15 minutes before police arrived. According to the report, they said they did not know that Mays had died but knew that something was wrong based on how Mahaffey was acting.

The duo was arrested after they were discovered to have capias warrants for court orders or judgments. Further investigations in the hotel room discovered a white powder believed to be heroin as well as Xanax pills.

Mahaffey was arrested on charges of child endangerment and failure to report a death and was sent to Hamilton County Jail. The baby was examined by paramedics before being released to Hamilton County caseworkers.