An Atlantic City woman accused of abandoning her four young children in a vomit- and feces-filled hotel room was ordered held in jail Tuesday.
Naayasia Torres, 29, has been a fugitive since February, after the children were found left alone inside a Flagship Hotel room for more than six hours.
The hotel called Torres after security found the four inside her room when she failed to check out as scheduled at 11 a.m. Feb. 5, according to the affidavit of probable cause. She said she would be returning soon, but never did.
A 6-year-old girl answered the door when Officer Robert Reynolds knocked but refused to take off the security latch, the officer wrote in the affidavit.
As he spoke to the oldest child, he could "hear that the other children were upset and crying," he wrote.
Two of the children could be seen without clothes, with another lying on the bed with just underwear, according to the report. He then saw the child vomit at the base of the bed, with another child trying to cover it up.
When emergency medical technicians arrived, the group got into the room and found "deplorable conditions," Reynolds wrote.
There were several piles of feces on the floor, one on a chair and smeared on the bedsheets and pillows.
At the hospital, officers observed large bruising, multiple lacerations and burn marks to at least one of the children, Assistant Prosecutor Katrina Koerner said.
Torres never responded to calls from the hospital, and the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, or DCPP, was called, according to information provided during her detention hearing.
She remained a fugitive until she was recognized at a market and arrested last week.
Torres was animated at times during her detention hearing, appearing to argue at some points but the mic to the room at the jail where she appeared was muted.
Her defense attorney said Torres was complying with DCPP and that she was working with the Family Life Center in Egg Harbor Township.
Torres also recently enrolled at Stockton University and was actively looking for employment, attorney Maya Rex said in arguing for release.
Judge Pam D'Arcy said that the claims Torres has been working to better herself are in contrast to her actions.
"What doesn’t ring true there is that she knew all these charges were outstanding and she didn’t call to straighten it out or turn herself in," the judge said. "So it falls a little flat."
The public safety assessment used to help decide whether a defendant should be held under bail reform recommended release, but the judge disagreed.
"The risk of harm to the children is immeasurable," she said. "The risk of flight and obstruction has been clearly demonstrated. She is not amenable to court orders."
Torres will now stay in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
