Investigator Ira Dease with Bennettsville police says they raided a home on Jennings Street Thursday night in search of two attempted murder suspects in connection with a shooting, earlier in the week.
Dease says they found Willie Earl Moore and Joshua Pearson and arrested them, but they also found three children ages five, two and one living in deplorable conditions in the home.
Investigator Dease says the children's mother, Shannon Sturdivant, was hiding the men in her home. She's charged with Misprison of a Felon
Sturdivant is also charged with three counts of Unlawful Conduct Toward a Child because of the conditions she allowed her children to live in at the home, according to Dease.
Police say the house needs to be condemned because it's not suitable for anyone to live in.
Officers say the children were hungry because there was no food in the home.
They were sleeping on bare mattresses and the house did not have any air conditioning, according to police.
Officers go on to say the home was very hot. There were fans inside, but the wiring on the cord to the fans was exposed and presented a danger to the children.
Dease says social workers with the Department of Social Services were called out to the home. After a brief investigation, he says they removed the children and placed them in protective custody.
Sturdivant, Pearson and Moore remain at the Marlboro County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.
They're expected to face a judge Friday evening.
