A dead dog & roach in her nose: Chilling stories from infested KC apartment | Opinion
“Ham is gone,” a direct message from Terri Golding on Dec. 23 read. When I heard the devastating news about Golding’s beloved emotional support animal two days before Christmas, my heart sank for the former Kansas City resident.
Golding is disabled. She’s been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and spinal stenosis of both the neck and lower back, and Ham gave her therapeutic comfort and companionship. Ham did something else too, keep her mind off the chronic conditions of her apartment: Growths of suspected mold and an infestation of roaches and their droppings that she couldn’t get rid of.
While she can’t prove it, Golding believes prolonged exposure to the suspected mold and pest waste inside her Jazz District II apartment near 18th Street and The Paseo in Kansas City contributed to a steady decline of Ham’s health.
Ham was 12 when he died, Golding said. Despite his advanced age, he showed no signs of failing health before Golding moved into Jazz District II, she said. “He was fine before we moved there,” she said. “No old dog issues at all. Spunky and spry as a puppy.”
Golding has since moved to a new apartment in Independence, and wants reimbursement for rent and her deposit at Jazz District ll.
Chain of Hope, a Kansas City-based animal rescue and welfare nonprofit, paid for Ham to be euthanized at Independence Animal Hospital, Golding said. In a text exchange between Golding and animal hospital staff, she was told the dog had neurologic disease. But no final test could be done on the dog to determine what caused Ham’s issues, she said.
Reliving the process all over again this week was tough on Golding, she told me.
“I think the shards that were left have completely shattered now as well,” she wrote in a text message on Thursday.
Health Department gets involved
Between January 2025 and last month, Golding filed four complaints with the Kansas City Health Department’s Healthy Homes program, citing live cockroach activity, growth from suspected mold and broken appliances. She terminated her lease in January. Health department officials reported all issues had been addressed and rectified by the time she moved out.
In one of Golding’s claims, she said she discovered roach activity in electrical outlets and a circuit breaker box and bed bugs in the laundry room, among other issues, including an in-unit washer and dryer that did not work. In the complaint, Golding said she observed growth (mold) in the washer/dryer unit and a furnace filter and live roach activity in gaps and door frames.
According to the Health Department’s report, a new washer and dryer unit was provided, door seals were replaced, new furnace filters were provided, and photo documentation showed areas inundated with pest and suspected mold were cleared.
None of those fixes were enough to keep Golding in place, she said, because she developed a sinus infection after pulling something from her nose. According to a copy of a medical report from earlier this year, a doctor from the University of Kansas Health System detected the presence of a foreign body in her nose, the report indicates. But the paperwork did not explicitly say what the object was.
Golding believes the foreign body was a mass of roach eggs. How did they get there? She has an unscientific theory.
“A cockroach was burrowing up in my nose,” she said.
Golding showed me photos that she took of dead cockroaches and what she believed to be mold behind appliances in the apartment. She terminated her lease early, according to the Health Department’s report.
‘It would have ruined Christmas’
I first met Golding almost two years ago, and she has been through a lot. She’d been kicked in the back by Danny Thomas, a one-time friend and former neighbor at the Heritage House apartment complex in Independence. Police there hadn’t done anything about the attack, despite video proof that Thomas assaulted Golding. In the process, Thomas struck Ham, too. He was originally charged with animal abuse. An assault charge was later added after I raised questions about the April 2024 incident.
Later that year, Thomas was found guilty of assault in Independence Municipal Court. He was given a suspended sentence and placed on two years’ probation, which ends in October, according to online court records. Thomas was also ordered to pay court costs.
In the animal abuse case, no information was available online. I emailed the municipal court in Independence seeking more information on the outcome of that case, but those messages were not returned.
When I met with Golding last month at a McDonald’s in Independence, she cried more than once when talking about Ham and the impact his death had on her. She couldn’t even bring herself to tell her young granddaughter about Ham’s death.
“It would have ruined Christmas for her,” Golding said. “I just told her that Ham went to the North Pole for Christmas.”
Weeks have passed since Golding reached out to me about her living conditions. In the time since she relocated to Independence, Golding said she has fought with property managers to refund her security deposit — under Missouri law a landlord must return a tenant’s deposit within 30 days of a lease being terminated and a unit being vacated. In this case, that deadline has passed.
Golding also wants a full refund from Jazz District II for the rent she paid since first moving into the dwelling about 18 months ago.
As of this writing, Golding said neither of those requests have been fulfilled. But if Golding can prove she’s lived in unhealthy conditions since Day 1, she should be reimbursed.
Jazz District ll’s response
In an email, Chitquita Darrington, a property manager for Jazz District II, said the complex takes all resident concerns and health-related issues very seriously. She added Golding was the only tenant to file a complaint since last year.
“Upon receiving notice of any pest-related complaints, our management team promptly works with licensed pest control vendors to inspect and treat the affected units and surrounding areas as needed,” Darrington wrote. “Since being made aware of these reports, we have taken proactive steps to ensure all necessary treatments and follow-up inspections are completed in coordination with the Kansas City Health Department’s guidelines.
“We also want to note that all Healthy Homes inspections conducted at the Jazz District Apartments have passed. Additionally, we would like to clarify that the recent allegations have come from the same tenant. Our team has addressed each reported concern thoroughly and in accordance with health and safety protocols. Our goal is to maintain a safe and healthy living environment for all residents, and we will continue to monitor conditions closely to ensure any issues are addressed promptly.”
Golding’s fundraiser
Because she’s unable to work, Golding is on a fixed monthly income. She said she had to borrow money to move and to pay a deposit on her new living quarters, a large multi-bedroom house in Independence. She’s organized a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to pay the loan back and opened a gift registry with Walmart to get help with much-needed furniture and other items, she told me.
“The GoFundMe is to pay back the $1,400 loan to move and deposit I had to borrow and,” for attorney fees, Golding wrote in a text message sent this week. “And honestly I have two very uncomfortable chairs in a good-sized house and that’s it.”
McCormack Baron Salazar operates Jazz District II where Golding lived. By the way, Jazz District III, a $68 million mixed-used redevelopment project known as The Parker, is under construction on the south side of 18th Street between The Paseo and Vine Street. Close to $8 million in public funding has been allocated to the project as part of Kansas City’s effort to revive the historic 18th and Vine Jazz District.
Because of the city’s financial commitment to the area, it is incumbent on for-profit entities such as McCormack Baron Salazar to ensure all of its tenants live in safe, healthy and humane conditions. Based on photo evidence Golding has shown me and the Healthy Homes report, the company must fully refund Golding any money she is owed without delay.
But no amount of cash could bring back Golden’s beloved Ham.
“My best friend is gone, and I’m empty inside,” Golding wrote the day Ham died.
Ham did more for her mental and physical health than any pill doctors could ever prescribe, she said. Life without him has been difficult, Golding said.
“I feel my chest rise and fall with breath, so I know my body is alive, but I think my spirit died with Ham,” she said.
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 5:05 AM.
