Blackstone mother indicted on 2 counts of murder

(MyFoxBoston.com) -- A Massachusetts couple who lived in a filthy, vermin-infested house where the bodies of three infants were found in August were indicted Tuesday in Worcester Superior Court.

Erika Murray, 31, was indicted on two additional counts of murder and other charges. Murray initially faced charges of fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child. Murray has been held on $1 million bail after pleading not guilty to those charges. Her attorney has said she has mental health issues.

Murray's boyfriend, Ray Rivera, faces seven counts, including assault and battery on a child and reckless endangerment of a child.

The prosecutor said in court that DNA proves Rivera is also the father of all of the children that lived in the home.

Prosecutors described horrific details of the living conditions of the four children found in the home alive. They say there is no way he was not aware. The prosecutor quoted a pediatrician as saying this was worst case of extreme neglect she has ever seen.

The judge set bail for Rivera at $100,000. Prosecutors were asking for $250,000. His defense attorney argued the number should be lowered because Rivera wasn't a flight risk.

The state Department of Children and Families removed four children ranging in age from 6 months to 13 years from their home in August after a 10-year-old boy went to a neighbor's house and asked for help in quieting a crying baby.

The neighbor found a 6-month-old baby covered in feces and a 3-year-old child. After interviewing the older children, police got a search warrant and went back to the house, where they found the remains of three babies. The state medical examiner is trying to determine whether they were newborns or fetuses.

No birth records could be found for the two youngest children. Halpern said previously that he believes Murray secretly gave birth to those children because Rivera didn't want any more kids than the two they already had together, the 10-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl.

The Blackstone Board of Health condemned the house where Murray, Rivera and the children lived. It has since been demolished. Authorities said it contained piles of dirty diapers, trash and the remains of dead animals.

Cox Media Group