Mother arrested after leaving 2-year-old alone at home while she worked 12-hour shifts
An Izard County mother is facing multiple charges for leaving her two-year-old son at home alone while she worked 12-hour shifts.
On July 2, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a call concerning the welfare of a 2-year-old child. The concern was due to the child’s mother, Joanna Taylor, being arrested on warrants out of Fulton County on July 1 at approximately 7:00 p.m. during a traffic stop, in which the child was not with Taylor.
Taylor did not mention, after her arrest, that she had left a child alone at home. The responding deputy arrived at the residence off Moser St. in Melbourne about 14 hours after Taylor’s arrest and had to break in. He found the two-year-old in a closed bedroom with no lights on and no food or drink. The child had no clothes on, but two diapers on which were heavily soiled. DCFS was notified and quickly arrived on scene to take charge of the care for the child.
An ambulance was called to assess the two-year-old, and deputies changed the diapers and provided food and milk. Workers from the Izard County Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) also arrived.
Arrangements were made for Taylor to be transferred from the Fulton County Jail to the Izard County Jail. Deputies noted in the probable cause affidavit that Taylor made no mention of her son being alone in her residence when she was arrested or during her incarceration in Fulton County, nor did she notify anyone that her son was home alone.
During a post Miranda interview, Taylor admitted to leaving the child at the home alone while she was working multiple jobs for the last couple of months. Investigators have been able to confirm 12 days that Taylor was working. Investigators are continuing the investigation into how many more days the child was left alone.
As a result, Joanna Taylor, 34 of Melbourne, has been charged in the Izard County Circuit Court with 12 counts of endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree. Each count is a class d felony. Her bond is set at $60,000.
Her arrest in Fulton County was for a failure to appear charge.
I don’t know enough about this woman’s circumstances to pass judgement. If she was in position to care for her child but didn’t, she should get the full punishment available. Looking at the charges against her, she will not recover from this. If she was not in position to care for her child because her living expenses far exceeded her income and childcare was the only thing that could be cut and there was no family that could or would help and assistance was not available to her for whatever reason, then she should get a punishment that she can recover from and get the aid that she obviously needs.