A mother allegedly left her two young children alone at home for almost a week while she vacationed on a cruise.
Lakesha Woods Williams, 29, left her kids aged 6 and 8 by themselves in her high-rise apartment in Houston, Texas, for six days, according to the Harris County Constable’s Office – Precinct 5.
Williams allegedly departed for the cruise on April 4 and returned on April 10 in the evening.
A day before Williams came home, deputies responded to her home on the 9700 block of Katy Freeway after a caller expressed concern around the kids’ welfare.
The deputies found the kids, who ‘told deputies their mother was on a cruise’, according to the constable’s office.
‘We are still putting together the facts and circumstances of how these children were left alone for several days,’ wrote Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap on Facebook on Friday.
‘But the important thing is they are safe now and those responsible should be held accountable for leaving these kids in an unsafe situation.’
Both children have been taken under the care of a relative.
Deputies who conducted the welfare check on the children found the apartment in ‘disarray’, according to court records obtained by KHOU 11. They found leftover food and trash around the apartment and said it reeked of urine.
Williams was arrested on Thursday and faces two charges of child endangerment with intent to return. She was booked into the Harris County Detention Facility the day after she returned home and her bond was set at $25,000.
She appeared in court on Monday and a judge upheld her bond.
Williams’ defense attorney argued that she had paid her cousin to watch her children but that he took the money and did not carry out the duty.
‘You left your child unattended for four days. Let’s say you leave the country out on a trip, and the cousin doesn’t go to take care of the children,’ said Harris County Assistant District Attorney Keegan Childers.
‘If this is really a plane flight like she says it is, wouldn’t you as a parent be on the first plane back immediately?’
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