Hunter
01/21/25
Washington Police say further charges have been filed stemming from an investigation of a property last month.
A search warrant was executed at 615 South Marion Avenue on December 20th. More than 20 animals were seized from the home with assistance from City of Washington staff and PAWS and More Animal Shelter.
Initial charges were filed against 35-year-old John Zaiss and 37-year-old Heather Egbert. They were both charged with four counts of child endangerment.
Last week, Egbert was also charged with 14 counts of animal neglect, nine counts of failure to provide current rabies vaccination, and three counts of failure to dispose of a deceased animal.
Additionally, another resident at the home when the search warrant was executed was also taken into custody. 58-year-old Teresa Richmond faces four counts of child endangerment, seven counts of animal neglect, three counts of failure to provide current rabies vaccination, and three counts of failure to dispose of a deceased animal.
After initially entering a plea of not guilty, Zaiss entered a written plea of guilty last week and was released on his own recognizance pending sentencing. Egbert has pleaded not guilty and has a pretrial conference scheduled for February 19th with trial set for March 25th. Richmond has an initial appearance scheduled for January 27th.