A driver rounding a curve on State Route 141 spotted something no motorist expects to see in the middle of the highway — a 3-year-old girl standing alone in the road.
And according to a neighbor interviewed by deputies, this allegedly wasn’t the first time children from the home had gotten into the road or been left unsupervised.
Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies began investigating after the driver reported finding the little girl near the intersection of State Routes 141 and 217.
The woman said she pulled into a nearby trailer park, got out and called to the child, asking where her mother was.
The little girl reportedly told her, “My mamaw left me here.”
When the woman asked where her mother was, the child answered, “I don’t know.”
The driver told the girl they would find her mother and stayed with her.
According to her statement, it was another five or six minutes before she saw an adult around the child.
She said a woman eventually came out of a trailer, yelled at the little girl for going into the road and ordered her back inside. A man then came outside, picked up the child and carried her into the home.
Who Was Watching the Children?
When deputies later spoke with the girl’s mother and her boyfriend, four young children were at the residence — ages 4, 3, 1 and approximately 1 month old.
The mother told deputies the children had been visiting their grandmother nearby.
According to the mother, the grandmother left for work without telling anyone that the children were still outside. The mother said she had been inside feeding one of the babies while her boyfriend was preparing to take a shower.
Deputies later contacted the grandmother.
She confirmed that the children had been visiting with her and said she was running late for work. However, she told deputies that as she began driving away, the children walked back toward their own trailer.
She also said the mother and her boyfriend were not outside with the children when she left.
Deputies then spoke with a neighbor who had a doorbell camera.
The neighbor said her camera indicated the grandmother’s vehicle had not been at the nearby residence since approximately 3 p.m. The child was reportedly found in the roadway at around 5 p.m.
The neighbor also told deputies this was not the first time children from the residence had gotten into the road or been outside unsupervised.
Deputies contacted Lawrence County Children’s Services and made a referral.
The investigation remains open and has also been forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.
