PALERMO, N.Y. --"I was not functioning very well. Someone could've walked up and put a gun to my head and I wouldn't have blinked," said Lindsey Maxwell, Erin Maxwell’s father.
Lindsay Maxwell says he was at Wal-Mart the night that his 11-year-old daughter Erin Maxwell died. He says the only person who was home was his stepson, Alan Jones.
"He told us he went in to give her dinner and she was just kind of slumped up against the bed. He called 911 and tried to do CPR," Maxwell said.
Police would not confirm or deny who was home that night or who called 911.
Maxwell says he doesn't think Jones would hurt his daughter and says whatever caused her death was probably an accident.
We're learning new details surrounding the death of an 11-year-old Palermo girl. State police have ruled the death of Erin Maxwell a homicide, but haven't given much information beyond that. Our Andy Mattison caught up with the girl's father who talked about what happened the night she died and how he's dealing with the loss of his daughter.
Meanwhile, the Oswego County SPCA was at the house Wednesday trying to feed and retrieve the cats still in the house. Last Friday, the family surrendered the rights to all the animals on the property and the SPCA has been hard at work finding them homes.
"We found a home for the emu, for the pot belly pig, for the geese, most of the chickens. So far 86 cats and kittens have been taken out of the property," said Oswego County SPCA President Darlene Woolson.
Last week, state police called the conditions in the house "deplorable". SPCA volunteers echoed that sentiment Wednesday as they retrieved more animals.
"One room that's the worst. I think they used the whole master bedroom for their litter box and it's just, makes it hard for me to get into my own bed 'cause that's how bad it is," Woolson said.
State police say they will hold a press conference on Friday to update the progress they've made in their investigation, which could shed some light into what killed Erin.