New Mexico Couple Arrested for Allegedly Keeping Teen with Autism ‘Locked in a Chicken Coop’ for 'Extended Periods'

A couple was arrested in New Mexico after allegedly locking a child in a chicken coop for “extended periods of time,” according to authorities. 

The Farmington Police Department in New Mexico shared in a Feb. 18 press release that Jammy Jackson, 59, and Patricia Madrid, 36, were arrested and charged with 14 felony counts, including child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse.

Detectives with the police department were first alerted to the incident after receiving a referral from Child Protective Services regarding concerns for a child’s welfare on Sept. 16. Police said “reports indicated” that the child involved in the incident “had been locked in a chicken coop” for “extended periods” of time and “exposed to extreme weather conditions” while in the coop.

“Detectives immediately responded, removed the child from the home, and gathered evidence corroborating the allegations,” police said in a statement, adding that the incident was still under investigation.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by KOAT-TV, KRQE-TV and The Durango Herald the child — who is autistic and has ADHD — was allegedly abused from November 2023 through September 2024 by her father, Jackson, and his girlfriend, Madrid. 

The girl claimed that she needed to seek approval from both Jackson and Madrid to use the restroom, but when she began using the restroom without their permission, they “became upset and started locking her up,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit, per The Durango Herald.

She was allegedly kept in a chicken coop for months during extreme weather months like summer and winter, and the couple only allowed her to eat once a day. The couple gave her noodles, ice cream and occasionally a banana to eat, and the teen would steal vegetables from the nearby garden to eat, the affidavit said, per the outlets.

Police claimed in the arrest warrant that text messages between Jackson and Madrid corroborated some of the teenager’s claims. Madrid allegedly texted Jackson in July 2024, “Don’t feed her until she’s dying for food and starving,” per KOAT-TV. She also reportedly texted, “You left and she’s walking around the backyard and side yard… I guess start locking her up before you leave.”

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The teen also claimed to a forensic interviewer that Jackson once put a “gun against her head” and threatened to pull the trigger, per KRQE-TV and The Durango Herald. She alleged that he told her that he “didn’t mind killing someone,” and that killing her would be “no different from killing an animal.”

Jackson and Madrid denied the allegations and claimed that the teenager “lied,” according to the affidavit, per The Durango Herald. According to a video obtained by KRQE-TV, Madrid claimed to police that they did not put the teen in the chicken coup and when they told the teen that she could play in the house, she went “outside,” adding, “So, that’s her choice, you know. She’s 15, almost 16.”

Jackson also reportedly told detectives that the teenager was seeking counseling to help with personal hygiene and “self-care.”

Madrid and Jackson were released from the San Juan County Detention Center following their arrest. A preliminary hearing for the couple was scheduled on Feb. 26.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Farmington Police Department for updates on the case.