A Missouri mother and her boyfriend were arrested Tuesday after investigators alleged they locked two teens in a chicken pen, shot at them with BB guns and forced the children to fight one another, according to charging records filed this week in Washington County.
Authorities say the case emerged from a months-long probe that began after a woman reported the children arrived at her home hungry last summer. The mother, identified in court papers as Chantel Hayford, and her boyfriend, Jerry Menees, face a combined slate of felony counts, including kidnapping, abuse or neglect of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and armed criminal action. The couple is being held without bond ahead of a first court setting scheduled for Jan. 20. The allegations span January 2023 through December 2025 and center on a rural property outside Potosi, about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis.
Detectives executed a search warrant at the home Tuesday and took both into custody, records show. In statements recorded by the Child Advocacy Center, a 14-year-old boy said Menees “screwed the pen shut” and fired an air rifle while the teen and his younger brother were inside. The boy said Menees at one point aimed a handgun at him and threatened to “blow his brains out.” A 13-year-old told interviewers both adults shot BB guns when he moved inside the pen. The teens also described “fight nights,” including at a birthday gathering, where children were forced to hit each other while adults watched. The older teen said the abuse left him in a “great depression” during which he ate bugs and leaves and stole food to get by, according to the affidavit.
Charging documents say the teens reported being given drugs and alcohol, including methamphetamine smoked from a glass pipe, marijuana edibles and whiskey. One teen said his mother stole gabapentin and gave it to him, making him sick. Investigators documented a home interior they described as very dirty, with feces on floors and beds. A third child, a 17-year-old girl, told a guardian and police that her mother made her cut her hands and smear blood on trees near the house; in another incident, the affidavit alleges the mother grabbed the girl’s chest and later told a family member she had “made it so she can grab it.” The Washington County Sheriff’s Office wrote that, beyond the chicken-pen episodes, the teens described being punched, slapped and kicked, and being called “worthless.”
According to the case file, a woman identified as the children’s adult guardian told detectives the youths walked nearly four miles to her home over the summer and begged for food. She reported that Hayford later signed over a power of attorney for the children in exchange for a cellphone and plan valued at $231 — about $77 per child — and that the phone bill was paid from July through December 2025. The guardian said a doctor observed the children were severely underweight when she took them for care. Investigators wrote that the children were not enrolled in school and “could not read or write,” according to the affidavit. The sheriff’s office said the county’s Division of Family Services alerted detectives in December 2025, triggering interviews and the subsequent warrant.
Court records list an extensive set of counts. For Hayford, prosecutors filed two counts of first-degree kidnapping; one count of second-degree sodomy/sexual abuse related to the alleged touching of her daughter; three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child; four counts of abuse or neglect of a child; and two counts of first-degree domestic assault. For Menees, charges include two counts of first-degree kidnapping; two counts of endangering the welfare of a child; two counts of armed criminal action; two counts of abuse or neglect of a child; one count of unlawful use of a weapon; and three counts of domestic assault. The affidavits reference both an air rifle and a handgun, and note threats with a firearm during one of the chicken-pen incidents. As of Friday, no attorneys were listed for the defendants in online dockets.
Records trace the timeline to Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 8, 2025, with the investigation intensifying after the summer handoff to the guardian. The sheriff’s office sought warrants following Child Advocacy Center interviews in December and early January. Detectives say they executed the search warrant on Tuesday, Jan. 13, and found the couple at the Potosi residence with the children present. The home, set among outbuildings common to rural lots in Washington County, included the pen referenced by the teens, documents say. The sheriff, Dwayne S. Reed, is listed on the warrant packet approving the probable cause statement prepared by Detective Ethan Haworth.
In addition to the child abuse counts, Hayford faces three counts of trafficking in children under a Missouri statute that prohibits transferring custody of a child “for anything of value.” Investigators allege the phone-and-plan arrangement functioned as a trade of guardianship for payment. The affidavits describe the value as $231 and note the plan was covered for six months, July through December 2025. The document also cites separate allegations that Hayford shoved one child over a church pew and threw objects — including rocks and a light — at her sons, and that Menees “almost suffocated” a teen by putting him in a headlock. The records mark some details as unknown, including precisely how often the pen was used and the dates of each “fight night.”
Both defendants are jailed without bond at the Washington County facility. An initial appearance is set for Tuesday, Jan. 20, in Washington County. Prosecutors indicated additional interviews and evidence reviews are pending, including medical records and scene photographs. The Division of Family Services continues to coordinate placement and services for the children, according to the sheriff’s office. If the court keeps the no-bond status in place next week, the case would move toward preliminary hearing scheduling and discovery, with additional filings possible once lab results and full forensic interviews are complete.
As of Friday afternoon, the sheriff’s office had not released a full narrative beyond the probable cause filings, and court dockets did not list defense counsel. The rural property remained quiet after the Tuesday search, with neighbors declining to comment. The alleged victims’ statements, as summarized in the affidavit, describe fear during the chicken-pen episodes — one boy recalled thinking, “I hope he doesn’t shoot me because I have a long life to go,” according to investigators. The case has stirred sharp reaction across regional media, with outlets repeating the “fight nights” and pen details that detectives say came directly from the teens’ interviews.
Hayford and Menees remain in custody in Washington County. The next milestone is the Jan. 20 court date, when a judge will address bond and counsel and set further proceedings.
Author note: Last updated January 16, 2026.