JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville mother is in jail Wednesday, charged with neglect after police said she admitted to leaving her two children, a 9-month-old and a 3-year-old, home alone.
According to the Department of Children and Families, the children are now with a relative while their mother is being held on a $20,000 bond.
In a police report, 22-year-old Felisha Jones told an officer she only left the children home alone for 30 minutes while she took her children’s father to work.
During that time, a neighbor said she woke up when she heard a baby crying out front and saw a child alone on the porch of the apartment and a second child climbing out a window at 4:30 a.m.
That neighbor called police and when they arrived, the responding officer said in his report that there was no one in the apartment. He also said there was no furniture of any kind. Only a television and a refrigerator with two open alcohol cans.
The officer then called DCF and said that Jones pulled up in a car shortly after and said she was gone a short time.
“The bottom line is children at that age are not able to fend for themselves, to provide for themselves, to care for themselves for a brief period. That is a risk. That is possible neglect because you're talking about inadequate supervision. And what parents need to know is, their No. 1 responsibility is to make sure their children are safe,” DCF spokesman John Harrell said.