An Ohio woman won’t be going anywhere anytime soon after leaving her three kids home alone for days to visit a friend that had cosmetic surgery in Florida.
Ohio woman sentenced to house arrest
Domonique Knowles was sentenced her to 360 days of house arrest and five years of probation in court on Wednesday.
The decision followed a bench trial where Knowles was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment.
The sentencing could have been worse, as she was initially facing a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Authorities reported that Knowles’ children, a 10-year-old and two 7-year-old twins with special needs, were left in a squalid apartment for three days without access to a phone.
The situation came to light when one of the younger children mentioned to her teacher at that they were alone while their mother was out of state.
The child also noted that Knowles made video calls via a laptop and arranged for food delivery while she was away.
The concerned teacher called 911, believing the mother was in Texas, and requested a welfare check.
“I’m just a little uncomfortable thinking that my student and her sisters are home alone while the mother is out of state,” the teacher said during the emergency call.
When officers arrived, they described the apartment as being in “shambles,” with trash everywhere and a mysterious liquid on the floor that caused one of the twins to slip in front of them.
Ohio woman lied about her whereabouts
Police managed to find Knowles’ mother, who took the children into her care. She informed the police that her daughter was actually with a friend who had been hospitalized.
The Westlake Chief Prosecuting Attorney, Michael P. Maloney, told the local CBS affiliate WOIO that Knowles rarely checked in on her children while she was away.
“Mom wasn’t really checking in. Remote work is one thing, remote mom is another. But mom wasn’t even checking in,” he remarked.
It was later revealed that Knowles had lied to her mother about her location, when police tracked her phone to Florida.
When confronted with the evidence, Knowles initially stuck to her story but later admitted that she went to Miami because her friend got cosmetic liposuction surgery.
She tried to tell police that her children were allowed to be by themselves, but the officers countered that it was absolutely not the case with two young special needs children.
Mom was at the club while toddler slept in car
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, a 29-year-old woman in Texas was taken into police custody after allegedly leaving her 3-year-old son in a car while she was partying.
Brandy Rachelle Brown was arrested on Monday and charged with child endangerment, according to court documents.
Houston Police officers responded to a call about an illegally parked vehicle in the early hours of Monday.
A tow truck operator had hooked up Brown’s car and later discovered the child asleep in the backseat.
The tow driver initially moved the car a block away to avoid confrontation before securing it. When he found the child was inside, he immediately contacted 911.
The criminal complaint indicates that Brown left the toddler in the car for at least 28 minutes while she drank at a nightclub.
The document further remarked that the child was in “imminent danger” due to being left unattended at night in a towed car.
Brown has faced multiple charges in the past, including driving under the influence and interfering with law enforcement duties.
She was convicted of DUI and didn’t hold a valid driver’s license at her latest arrest.
After the toddler was evaluated and found to be healthy, he was placed under the care of a family member.
Brown was later released from Harris County Jail after posting a $7,500 bond.
