Piles of garbage, no toilet and feces smeared on the walls: New details about home of mother now accused of murder after leaving her two toddlers to die in the back of a hot, inoperable car as she napped

  • Child Protective Services were called to the home of Samantha Harper at least twice before the August 2012 death of her two toddlers
  •  Each time, CPS declined to take any action
  • Authorities suspect the temperature in the car when the children died was roughly 140 degrees
  • A relative told authorities that car didn't even work and that Harper never drove it
  • Harper's claim that the children's death was a 'tragic accident'

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 14:10 EST, 20 November 2013 | UPDATED: 15:31 EST, 20 November 2013

Rotting food, no working toilet and feces splattered all over the walls - those were some of the deplorable conditions inside of the Tennessee home of a woman accused of killing her two young children by locking them in the back seat of a car on a hot day in August of 2012, as she went and took a nap, according to a recently released report.

When authorities found the bodies of the two children - 2-year-old Daniel and 3-year-old Savannah Marise - the thermometers used to measure their body temperatures maxed out at 107 degrees.

Additionally, the report states, 25-year-old Samantha Harper knew the car in which she locked the children didn't even work, which has investigators doubting her claim that the children's death was just a tragic accident.

Monster: Samantha Harper had her children living in filth before allegedly killing them by leaving them locked in a hot car

Monster: Samantha Harper had her children living in filth before allegedly killing them by leaving them locked in a hot car

Tragedy: Harper's daughter, Savannah, 3, cooked to death after she was left in the back of a hot car with her brother, Daniel, 2

Tragedy: Harper's daughter, Savannah, 3, cooked to death after she was left in the back of a hot car with her brother, Daniel, 2

Filth: Crime scene photos show piles of filth strewn about Samantha Harper's home

Filth: Crime scene photos show piles of filth strewn about Samantha Harper's home

Harper has since been been charged with two counts each of murder and aggravated child abuse in the August, 2012 deaths of her two children. She awaits a five-day trial expected to take place in February.

The Tennessee Department of Child Services recently released thousands of pages of child death records, including 44 pages about the deaths of the Marise children. The names of children were redacted from the reports, but the Tennessean was able to independently confirm the pages related to the deaths of the Marise children.

 

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The records paint a grisly picture of life for the children in their mother's home, which was later condemned due to its dreadful condition.

'The children did not have beds and the walls in the room had food and feces smeared and splattered on them,' records state. 'When the children were found deceased they were found to have cuts on their hands and they were filthy.'

Gross: Authorities say Harper's home was without a working toilet

Gross: Authorities say Harper's home was without a working toilet

Neglect: Amongst the mounds of filth, authorities found piles of soiled diapers inside the home

Neglect: Amongst the mounds of filth, authorities found piles of soiled diapers inside the home

Records and photographs of the home taken after the deaths of the two children show mounds of garbage, rotting food, fast food bags, piles of soda cans, used diapers and cigarette burns on the walls and floors. Additionally, investigators discovered that the home had no working toilet. 

But the investigation into the deaths wasn't the first time authorities paid a visit to Harper's house of filth - in both October of 2010 and October of 2011, DCS sent child neglect investigators to the home to follow up on allegations of environmental neglect and lack of supervision after neighbors found the children wandering around outside as Harper was sleeping.

In each case DCS investigators determined that there were 'no services needed.'

On the day of the alleged murders, paramedics rushed to Harper's home after she called 9-1-1 from a neighbors house to report that she found the children unresponsive in the car.

Stars and bars: Investigators say they found feces smeared all over the walls in Harper's home

Stars and bars: Investigators say they found feces smeared all over the walls in Harper's home

Yuck: Rotting food was amongst the many filthy attributes found in Harper's decaying home

Yuck: Rotting food was amongst the many filthy attributes found in Harper's decaying home

Dropped the ball: CPS officials were called to Harper's home at least twice but took no action in either case

Dropped the ball: CPS officials were called to Harper's home at least twice but took no action in either case

Temperatures outside were about 99 degrees the day the children were locked into their car seats in the back of Harper's inoperable vehicle, and investigators estimate that the temperature inside the car was upwards of 140 degrees.

Initially, Harper told police that she strapped the children into their car seats and then went inside and fell asleep. 

But Harper's story repeatedly changed - after first admitting to putting the kids in the car, Harper later told police 'she does remember putting them in the car.'

Additionally, a relative of Harper's told authorities that the car didn't work and that she 'never drove it.'

The children's father was at work the day they were killed and has not been charged with any crimes.

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did you ever think maybe the father didn't live with them??? think about that for a min. If he doesn't live with their mother and doesn't talk to her. then how the hell would he know.

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why is the father not charged you cant tell me he didnt know about these condition and in my book is just as guilty as she is for not doing anything

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wow really cps u did nothing so sad for those poor children rip little ones and i agree the father should be charged too whos lives like that so sad

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Sooooo I am assuming that the father is deaf and blind also? Why isn't he being charged for the filthy conditions that his children were living in as well? As far as this pathetic "mother" is concerned I have NO words for the terrible person that she must be to treat her children this way!! RIP poor babies...CPS SHAME ON YOU ALSO!!!!

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I really lay a lot of blame at the feet of the inspectors who missed what was going on. The neighbours did their best for the poor little kids. Father is also to blame - he must have realised the kids were in a lot of danger.

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As a British paper can we please stick to correct English grammar and spelling, it's faeces not feces! and labour not labor etc.

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The issue here is she should have fired the maid service

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The issue here is she should have fired the maid service

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most likely they were driving her crazy and she put them in the car so she can have time to herself...smh disgusting vile b**** ..I pray she one day gets what she's done to these poor babies done to her!

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Yup, CPS doing a stellar job as usual, those poor babies.

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