A man accused of running a marijuana grow house in Marietta allegedly denied his teenage children food and clothing and beat them, according to his arrest warrant. He also forced his 17-year-old to sell marijuana at school, which resulted in the teen’s suspension, police said.
But Jessie Lee Jr. won't have to answer to the charges nor be arrested. He was found dead Thanksgiving morning in a Mississippi hotel room.
Investigators believe Lee was on the run when he was found dead. A warrant issued before his death listed numerous charges in Cobb County.
While investigating alleged child abuse at Lee’s Banberry Road home last month, officers smelled marijuana, Officer David Auld with Marietta police said. During a search of the home, officers found a grow operation that included 300 plants, as well as a handgun. But Lee was not located, Auld said.
Further investigation led officers to charge Lee with numerous felonies related to the treatment of his children, who told investigators they weren’t allowed in certain rooms of the house, including the kitchen and bathroom, Lee’s warrant states.
A 17-year-old boy in the home told police he was forced to help with the marijuana grow operation and sell it at Marietta High School, where he was expelled in March, according to police. The boy was also beaten and forced to urinate in a bottle, the warrant states.
The boy told police Lee had “beaten him with a baseball bat, a 2x4, cords and barbells,” the arrest warrant states.
Lee allegedly did not purchase clothes for the boy, who borrowed them or stole them. A 14-year-old girl in the home told police that if she or the boy got in trouble, they were not allowed to eat for several days, police said. The teens were scared to report the alleged abuse, police said.
On Thursday morning, Lee was found dead, along with 36-year-old Ditrena McIntyre Lee, in a Greenwood, Miss., motel room. Police did not give information on Ditrena’s relationship to Lee. Greenwood Police Chief Ray Moore said officers were called to the Golden Coach Inn about 9 a.m. and used a pass key to enter the room. The causes of the pair’s deaths have not been released.
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