A Texas mother has been jailed after allegedly abandoning her two small children at home for several days to go on a cruise, according to court records.
A criminal complaint charges Lakesha Williams, 29, of Houston with felony abandonment of a child with intent to return.
According to the complaint, neighbors in Williams’ high-rise apartment building saw her depart with baggage on April 4 but “never saw her return.”
According to the complaint, a mother at the apartment complex contacted law enforcement to request a wellness check because neighbors were concerned about the safety of the children.
Deputies performed a welfare check on Tuesday, five days after Williams reportedly left, and discovered an 8-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl alone in the apartment, according to the complaint. The flat was in “complete disarray,” with trash and food strewn about and a “very strong odor of urine,” according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, the children informed police that their mother had left them on April 4 “to go on vacation on a cruise, and they did not know when she would return.”
According to the allegation, no adults appeared to have supervised the children since then. According to the lawsuit, Williams allegedly utilized a video camera to view and chat with the children at the time, and the boy was texting her with his phone.
“These children were definitely left unattended for many days and put in serious harm’s way,” Keegan Childers, the 209th District Court’s chief prosecutor, told Houston ABC station KTRK.
According to the lawsuit, a Child Protective Services agent responded to the scene to ensure the children’s well-being and then released them into the custody of their aunt.
Deputies attempted to contact Williams to have her respond to the scene, “but she was not cooperating and was changing her story about her whereabouts,” according to the complaint.
Williams was detained on Thursday and will appear in court on Monday, according to online court records. The records show no information about her attorney.
