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A woman running for East Point City Council is facing serious criminal charges just weeks before voters head to the polls.
Marie Terry, a candidate for City Council, has been arrested and charged with three counts of child cruelty. The allegations stem from her role as a foster parent to three children, ages 13 to 17.
East Point City Council candidate accusations
Terry’s campaign signs around East Point read “A Fighter for the People,” but now she is fighting to clear her name.
According to arrest warrants, Terry is accused of hitting the teens with a skillet, a wooden grill scraper, and a plastic bat when they “needed to be disciplined.”
The warrants also claim Terry forced the children to eat cat feces and made threats to harm them if they didn’t comply.
In addition, investigators say she made the teens sleep on the basement floor without bedding and would sometimes lock them in a closet without a light.
FOX 5 visits Terry’s home after she bonds out of jail, but there is no answer at the door.
Marie Terry arrested
Longtime neighbor Frankie Swain said she was stunned to hear about the charges.
“I can’t believe what they’re saying that she’s accused of doing,” Swain said. “She’s always feeding, delivering food, cleaning the neighborhood. She has been an upstanding person that I know of for over 30 years.”
Swain added that the children always seemed happy.
“The only way, I believe that Marie had to snap or been under some pressure,” Swain said.
Swain said she would still stand up for the woman she has known for decades.
“You know, you do anything for me, and I’ll do anything to stand up for the character of you that I know,” she said.
Terry’s response
Terry’s legal team is working on a statement. Once it is released, we’ll update this story.
