A 9-year-old girl who was found living in a Lakeside shed with guns and drugs is now in protective custody.
Deputies found the girl during a probation check living with her 60-year-old father and a woman in the small, uninhabitable shed, which lacked did not have running water, electricity, or a bathroom, reports KTLA.
Police also found a shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle, about eight grams of methamphetamine and indications of drug sales, according to authorities.
The girl’s uncle, who lives on a home on the same property as the shed, said his brother had been living in the structure and the girl had only recently moved in.
“She was staying in the shed because my brother had to stay in the shed,” Ted Tavolazzi told the LA Times. “She never saw no kind of drugs. She was well taken care of. My brother tried, and that’s all I can tell you.
Six men and two women were arrested on various charges including felony child endangerment, gun charges, drug charges, probation violations and sales of a controlled substance near a school.
“People drive up, they stop walk in back of the house for a while and get in their car and drive off,” neighbor Tom Wessels told NBC 7. “It’s like going to McDonald’s.”
