Couple pleads not guilty to child abuse after children found in dog cage

A couple arrested after police found two children in their apartment locked in a dog cage have pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges.

Travis Doss, 31, and his wife, Amanda Stamper, 33, were arrested June 11 after Stamper told a Walgreens employee that her husband was beating his children and was going to kill her. When the employee called 911, Stamper also spoke with dispatchers, saying that she was “terrified” and needed police to come to the store.

Police later arrived at the couple’s apartment and found six of Doss’ children, two who were locked inside a dog kennel. One of the children inside the cage had eyes that were swollen shut and bruises all over his body, and was suffering from extreme malnourishment, according to Metropolitan Police Department arrest reports.

Doss and Stamper both pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges during a court hearing on Tuesday, court records show. They had appeared for a hearing earlier that morning, but District Judge Jennifer Schwartz recalled the case later Tuesday, when they entered the pleas.

During a brief court hearing Thursday, Schwartz said Doss had invoked his right to a speedy trial during the prior hearing. Doss and Stamper were appearing in court on Thursday for Doss to be appointed a new special public defender.

Doss was indicted July 13 with 33 child abuse charges and two kidnapping charges. The grand jury indicted Stamper on seven counts of child abuse charges, and she was accused of failing to protect the children from substantial bodily harm, court records show.

During a jailhouse interview last week, Stamper said that she was also being abused by Doss, and that the physical abuse against her and her six stepchildren increased in the weeks before she and Doss were arrested.

After her arrest, Stamper told police that she had left the apartment on June 10 with her young daughter. At the drugstore the following day, she told an employee that she was hiding from her husband.

A jury trial in the case is scheduled for October.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.