Three adults listed as caretakers of four children have plead guilty to multiple counts of child endangerment related to a December case in Washington. The charges were related to an incident that occurred in Washington in the 600 block of South Marion Avenue. Authorities removed four children from the house on December 20th, 2024. They also removed 24 dogs and four cats. Authorities found deceased animals inside the house, along with feces and urine on the floor, and waist-high trash along with mold in the basement where a sewer pipe had burst earlier in the year.

Thirty-five-year old Jon Zaiss submitted a written plea of guilty and received a deferred judgement of two years of probation on the count of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor, and the no contact order related to four minor children was terminated. Zaiss was also charged with five counts of animal neglect.

Arrested related to the case was 58-year-old Teresa Jean Richmond who also lived at the house. She was charged with four counts of child endangerment and multiple counts of animal neglect. According to court documents, she was a grandmother of the minor children. She plead guilty to four counts of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor. She was sentenced to two years in prison, with those two years suspended conditioned on future good behavior with two years of probation.

In addition, 37-year old Heather Egbert filed a written plea of guilty to four counts of child endangerment. A sentencing hearing for Egbert has been scheduled for May 15th. She also plead guilty to five counts of animal neglect with injury.