New charges for parents, grandmother accused of letting children live in squalor

MANCHESTER, NH – The parents and grandmother of five children found living in squalid in a Spruce Street apartment 3 ½ years ago are facing new charges.

A Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District grand jury returned new indictments against Eddie King and Alicia Washok, parents of the five children, and Lori Harmon, 65, the grandmother.

King, 48, Washok, 48, and Harmon, 65, all of 190 Spruce St., were each indicted on five counts of criminal restraint and five counts of reckless conduct.  Additionally, King and Washok were indicted on one count each of witness tampering.

The three were previously indicted on second-degree assault charges for allegedly neglecting two of the children and five counts of felony reckless conduct.

King also was under indictment on a first-degree assault charge for allegedly shooting one of the children in the chest with a pellet gun.

The criminal restraint indictments accuse the three of confining the five children on Sept. 10, 2021, in a “severely squalid environment” while the reckless conduct offense alleges they regularly exposed the children to trash, waste and vermin.

The witness tampering charge against King and Washok alleges that on Dec. 12, 2021 they tried to get G.R. to give false information in the investigation into pending charges of endangering the welfare of a child.

When officers went to the Spruce Street apartment in  September 2021, they said trash covered the floor of the apartment and they found feces and moldy food by the children’s beds.

The children were removed from the home and placed in the custody of the Division of Children, Youth and Families.

The criminal restraint and witness tampering charges are class B felonies that carry a 3 ½ to 7 year prison sentence on conviction. The reckless conduct charges are class A misdemeanors which, on conviction, carries a 2 to 5 year prison sentence.