A Blackstone woman who was arrested in the squalid home that held infant remains pleaded not guilty to several charges during an arraignment Friday morning.

Erika Murray, 31, has been charged with fetal death concealment out of wedlock, witness intimidation, animal cruelty, and two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child, police said. She pleaded not guilty to the charges, and will be held without bail.

Erika Murray, 31, pleaded not guilty to several charges on Friday morning. —Screenshot via NECN

On Wednesday, police discovered “the body of what appeared to be a newborn baby, tucked into the back of a closet in one of the rooms of the house,’’ police said. A wider search on Thursday turned up the remains of two more infants, as well as the skeletal remains of cats and a dog. Prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility of finding more bodies inside, AP reports, and the investigation is expected to take the next several days to complete.


Late last month, four children ranging from 13 years old to six months old were taken into custody of the state Department of Children and Families. The woman is believed to be the mother of those children.

The house was in “deplorable condition,’’ Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said, and investigators wore hazmat suits during the search.

“The house is filled with vermin,’’ a prosecutor told the AP. “We have flies. We have bugs. We have used diapers, in some areas, as much as a foot-and-a-half to 2-feet high.’’

Murray previously appeared in court and was charged with reckless endangerment of those four children, WBZ-TV reports.