On Thursday morning (April 18), New Jersey police found a woman’s two children living inside of a narrow storage unit. Here’s the top five facts you need to know about the mother, the children, and the police that discovered the children.
1. The Mother Was Arrested For Criminal Mischief
NJ.com reported that before the children were found, the mother (27-year-old Sheena Johnson) was charged with criminal mischief after she was allegedly caught slashing her boyfriend’s tires on Calhoun Street in New Jersey. After being arrested, Sheena spoke to Trenton police officer Robert Arnwine and revealed that her two boys were living inside one of the storage units at the Extra Space Storage facility on the 1400 block of Prospect Street.
2. The Children Were Found After She Told Them They Were Inside A Storage Unit
Once the police officers made their way to the storage unit, they discovered that Sheena’s claims were true. NJ.com reported on how one officer described the unit and who’s investigating the matter:
“They open it up,” he said of the officers who went to the unit. “That’s where their house is – that’s where they’re living.” “It was just filthy in there,” Kieffer added. Now, police in Ewing along with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the living quarters as an “endangering the welfare of a child matter,” a township police spokesman said. No charges have been filed related to the storage locker investigation, authorities said. Both children were taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Hopewell to be checked out and were released to the care of the state Department of Child and Families.
Around 11 a.m., Trenton and Ewing police arrived on the scene (plus an ambulance was found parked outside the storage facility). At 1 p.m., two young boys were seen being led out of the facility’s main office to a minivan with NJ state tags. The Ewing police officers fed the boys by giving them a McDonald’s Happy Meal.
3. She Was Reportedly Living With The Kids Inside The Storage Unit
NJ.com went on to report that the boys’ mother may have been living with them inside the storage unit:
Johnson was likely living there with the two children, but had left them inside the unit this morning when she went to Trenton, Kieffer said. She wound up getting arrested after allegedly slashing the tires on Calhoun Street, he said.
4. A Witness Saw Them Living Inside The Unit For Months
One witness by the name of Champ Bell told NJ.com that he believes the mother and her two boys were living inside the storage unit for months. He went on to say that he spotted an adult bringing one of the boys into the facility and not leave afterwards. He went on to say that:
I’ve been seeing them for months.
5. The Storage Unit Had No Heat or Electricity
The storage unit reportedly had no heat and no electricity inside. The electricity only works in the storage facility’s hallways. Each storage unit measures in at 30-feet-wide and cost $240 a month.