3 Crestview residents charged with child neglect

CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has completed an investigation into the accidental death of a 9-year-old Crestview boy. Deputies charged the victim’s mother, stepfather, and grandfather with child neglect.

The OCSO responded to a call Nov. 10, 2016 from 1069 Farmers Street in Crestview after a family member found Esau Jamison, 9, hanging by a belt in a bedroom closet.

There was also a shotgun on the closet shelf, ammunition in a nearby chest of drawers, and a rock of crack cocaine in the bedroom.

Doctors pronounced Esau dead at North Okaloosa Medical Center. The Medical Examiner’s Office determined the manner of death was accidental.

Deputies say the home where Esau and five other children lived was filthy, with a kitchen overflowing with trash and visible cockroaches. The children ranged in age from 3 to 14.

The adults in the home were identified as Esau’s mother, 37-year-old Jentry Smith; her husband, 56-year-old Robert Earl Smith, and Esau’s grandfather, 67-year-old John E. Jamison.

Investigators say the defendants had been involved in at least seven prior investigations with the Department of Children and Families since 2012 in Escambia, Okaloosa, and Lee counties.

OCSO investigators say they failed to provide adequate care, supervision, or living conditions for the well-being of children in the home.

After review of the case with the State Attorney’s Office, the OCSO charged Jentry and Robert Smith with six counts of child neglect. They charged Jamison with six counts of child neglect, as well as possession of cocaine and possession of a weapon and ammo by a convicted felon.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 3 Crestview residents charged with child neglect