Overview
- Mother Marchelle Pertilla and stepfather Eugene Medrano were taken into custody and booked into Mobile County Metro Jail on child abuse charges, with animal cruelty allegations also reported.
- Deputies were alerted after a store worker saw the 14-year-old stumbling outside a Dollar General and took her to a hospital for evaluation.
- The teen told detectives she had lived alone with dogs since February 2025, last saw her parents on October 31, and relied on Snapchat to request food deliveries.
- A January 5 search of the Eight Mile mobile home documented urine, feces, roaches and trash, found seven dogs with one dead in a closet, and led Prichard Animal Control to seize the surviving animals.
- Detectives collected a handwritten note titled "How many times mom tells me that she can't pick me up!" with roughly 87 tally marks, and the sheriff says the investigation continues.