Topeka's city government looking at whether site where Zoey Felix last lived is unsanitary
Trash covered the ground Monday at the southeast Topeka campsite where 5-year-old Zoey Felix lived before she was raped and killed Oct. 2.
The property maintenance unit for Topeka's city government is in the process of inspecting that site to determine if sanitation violations are present, a city spokeswoman said early Monday evening.
"If there are, the city will contact the property owner to work with them to remove the blight generated by the encampment," said Gretchen Spiker, the city's communications director.
The encampment is located on private property, limiting the city's ability to remove it without due process, Spiker said.
"When encampments are located on private property, it is ultimately the property owner's responsibility to remove the encampment," Spiker said. "The city can assist property owners in cleaning up an encampment through its property maintenance unit. Still, all other avenues must be exhausted, and it must be with the property owner's consent."
Encampment appears to remain in use
Shawnee County appraiser's office records say Santa Fe, N.M.-based AR Enterprises Inc. owns the land where the camp is located on a roughly 1.76-acre vacant lot in the 2000 block of S.E. 28th. The Capital-Journal was seeking to contact that company.
A Capital-Journal reporter and photographer found no one present Monday afternoon at the site, which is located in a wooded area. It appeared to still be in use.
Two pillows and a sleeping bag could be seen inside an open tent. Two shopping carts were present. Children's books could be seen lying on the ground and in one of the shopping carts.
To the southwest of the camp, a memorial to Zoey featuring balloons, flowers, candles and stuffed animals could be seen in an open area lining the north side of S.E. 28th Street, to the east of S.E. California Avenue.
When is the first court appearance for Mickel Cherry?
The campsite stands in an area that was cordoned off as a crime scene by Topeka police after Zoey was brought Oct. 2 to the nearby Dillons gasoline pumps at 2010 S.E. 29th. She was suffering from injuries that proved to be fatal.
The 25-year-old Mickel W. Cherry was a fellow resident of the homeless camp where Zoey had been staying with members of her family. Cherry faces criminal charges in the case that include rape and capital murder.
Cherry's first appearance is set for 4 p.m. Thursday in Shawnee County District Court.
What time frame was involved?
Zoey's name wasn't given on a front-page police report for the case Topeka police provided to The Capital-Journal. It gave the victim's birthdate as March 7, 2018, the day Zoey was born.
The crimes involved were committed by an acquaintance of the victim's between 5:30 and 5:54 p.m. Oct. 2, the report said.
Computer-aided dispatching notes Topeka police provided the Capital-Journal said the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center at 5:54 p.m. Oct. 2 received a call reporting that a 5-year-old was "unresponsive" next to the gasoline pumps outside the Dillons store at S.E. 29th and California Avenue.
Complete coverage: Read all our coverage of Zoey Felix in one spot.
The first emergency medical technician to arrive on the scene did so one minute and 44 seconds later, and CPR was initiated two minutes and 21 seconds after that, those notes said.
Ambulance workers at 6:21 p.m. asked Topeka police to come to the hospital where the victim had been taken, because abuse was suspected, the CAD notes said.
They indicated Topeka police at 6:56 p.m. Monday moved their investigation to the north end of the Dillons property, where they maintained an active crime scene until Tuesday afternoon.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: New Mexico company owns land where Zoey Felix last lived in campsite
