A Lake Charles mother has been charged with child desertion after she allegedly left her four children — all under the age of 6 — alone in an apartment that was covered in feces.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kaylva Vincent said at about 10 a.m. on Friday, deputies responded to a welfare check at residence in an apartment complex on Winterhalter Street s after receiving a report of four children, under the age of 6, being unsupervised.

Vincent said when CPSO Special Victims Unit detectives arrived on the scene they found the apartment to be covered in feces with a bucket of urine inside.  The children were observed to be soiled, with the youngest having a severe diaper rash.

About two hours into the investigation, the mother of the children — 25-year-old Daionjanee R. Young — returned to the apartment.

“When detectives spoke with her she stated she left the children sleeping at the home around 2 or 3 a.m. to pick up food but found the fast food restaurant to be closed,” Vincent said. “She advised detectives she then went to a friend’s house, where she fell asleep.”

Young was arrested and booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center and charged with four counts of cruelty to juveniles; and four counts of child desertion. Her bond is pending.

“It is heartbreaking to see children living in these conditions,” Sheriff Stitch Guillory said.  “We appreciate the community members who alerted us to this situation. The children have been placed in state custody by the Department of Child and Family Services.”