Mother arrested after leaving 9-month-old, 3-year-old unattended to take boyfriend to work; police

ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. (WTVD) -- A mother was arrested after police said she left her two small children unattended at her Roanoke Rapids home.

According to the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, an officer responded to a report of a 3-year-old who was walking through the parking lot of a residential complex on East Littleton Road at around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. When the officer arrived they found that the child was left unattended from a neighboring residence.

Police said the mother, 22-year-old Jessenia Grace Brown of Roanoke Rapids, said she had left the child to take her boyfriend to work near Halifax, and thought she had locked the door. The officer then went to Brown's home where police said a 9-month-old was found alone in a crib in a back bedroom.

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Brown was taken into custody and is being charged with two counts of child abuse. She is being held in the Halifax County Detention Center without bond due to the Pretrial Integrity Act of 2023.

Police said Halifax DSS took custody of both of the children who were placed in a safe environment.