CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When police served a search warrant on the Mallo home June 15, they found Trina Mallo's 6-year-old daughter asleep in a bedroom with dozens of knives and cleavers, said Detective Adam Kuhner of the Charleston Police Department.

A preliminary hearing for Trina Mallo, who is charged with child neglect, was held Friday in front of Kanawha County Magistrate Jack Pauley. The case was bound over to the grand jury and she remains in jail on $25,000 bail.

A 14-year-old member of the Mallo family is charged with killing 82-year-old Phyllis Jean Phares, who lived across from the family house on Frame Street on Charleston's West Side.

The 14-year-old's two brothers, who also lived in the Frame Street house, are each charged with sexual assault.

Farris Mallo is accused of raping his ex-wife. He was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of breaking into his ex-wife's home.

Alexandrio Michael "Mikey" Mallo sexually abused his 7-year-old nephew, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. He was charged earlier this month with first-degree sexual abuse. He struck the boy's genitals with a ruler, among other things, according to the complaint.

Trina Mallo's parents, Carolyn Mallo and Alexander Doran (who also uses the name Mallo), each waived a preliminary hearing on Friday. Pauley reduced Carolyn Mallo's bail to $10,000, or 10 percent surety.

Trina Mallo was home with her children when police came to serve the warrant, Kuhner said.

Assistant Prosecutor Maryclaire Akers showed Kuhner a series of photographs of the house and asked him to describe what he found there.

"There wasn't a place in the house you couldn't step without roaches crawling on your feet," he said.

Police found prescription-drug bottles of hydrocodone and coladapin lying on the floor, Kuhner said.

A preliminary hearing for Trina Mallo, who is charged with child neglect, was held Friday in front of Kanawha County Magistrate Jack Pauley. The case was bound over to the grand jury and she remains in jail on $25,000 bail.

A 14-year-old member of the Mallo family is charged with killing 82-year-old Phyllis Jean Phares, who lived across from the family house on Frame Street on Charleston's West Side.

The 14-year-old's two brothers, who also lived in the Frame Street house, are each charged with sexual assault.

Farris Mallo is accused of raping his ex-wife. He was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of breaking into his ex-wife's home.

Alexandrio Michael "Mikey" Mallo sexually abused his 7-year-old nephew, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. He was charged earlier this month with first-degree sexual abuse. He struck the boy's genitals with a ruler, among other things, according to the complaint.

Trina Mallo's parents, Carolyn Mallo and Alexander Doran (who also uses the name Mallo), each waived a preliminary hearing on Friday. Pauley reduced Carolyn Mallo's bail to $10,000, or 10 percent surety.

Trina Mallo was home with her children when police came to serve the warrant, Kuhner said.

Assistant Prosecutor Maryclaire Akers showed Kuhner a series of photographs of the house and asked him to describe what he found there.

"There wasn't a place in the house you couldn't step without roaches crawling on your feet," he said.

Police found prescription-drug bottles of hydrocodone and coladapin lying on the floor, Kuhner said.

There were "piles upon piles" of trash, dirty clothes, food and knives, Kuhner said.

In the back bedroom, Carolyn Mallo and Doran's bedroom, there was a wooden box full of kitchen knives and cleavers, Kuhner said. Also in the room were a gun in a lock box under the bed, at least two swords - and a sleeping little girl.

After the hearing, Sgt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston police, said it was disturbing to find children living in such deplorable and dangerous conditions.

"Occasionally during a criminal investigation, you are really taken aback by a certain level of filth when you're observing people's living conditions," he said. "I'm very glad the small children are no longer living under those conditions."

During the hearing, Trina Mallo sat beside her lawyer, Ed Bullman, and carefully watched the proceedings, a long braided strand of hair drooping down the front of her orange jail jumpsuit.

Kuhner testified that police found a pile of feces in the center of the children's designated sleeping area on the second floor of the house. There were holes in the floorboards big enough for the 6-year-old to fall in up to her knee, he said. Several of the holes were filled with trash. Kuhner said he didn't walk into the area himself for fear of falling through the floor. The ceiling also was decrepit, he said.

Kuhner described photographs of the kitchen: There were dirty, crusted dishes in the sink, the refrigerator was filthy and there were dead roaches in the cabinets and food pantry, he said. No one knew what a bucket of black liquid found there could be, he said.

The standalone freezer in the back yard, which Kuhner said they used to cut up fish, was filled to the top with a murky green liquid, he said.

In the bathroom, the toilet was blocked by debris, Kuhner said. There was fecal matter on the toilet and tools and machinery were strewn about the floor, he said.

Cooper said police found something else in the house as well: a 72-inch plasma television.

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com">gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.