A mother in Texas has been arrested after leaving her two young children at home alone so she could go on a cruise vacation, police said.
Lakesha Woods Williams, 29, was arrested and charged with two counts of child endangerment on Thursday, April 11. The woman is accused of having left her children, aged six and eight, in her apartment in Houston, Texas, for six days while she went off on vacation — flying to Miami, Florida to catch a cruise to Puerto Rico.
Lakesha Woods Williams, a 29-year-old mother of two young kids, is accused of leaving them home alone while she took a cruise.
Deputies reported finding a web camera and cell phone that the children said their mother used to check in on them.https://t.co/g7bokX1tzp
— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) April 12, 2024
A welfare check conducted on April 9 uncovered the kids, who were told by police that their mother had left them to go on the trip. The apartment was disorderly and unsanitary, according to a local ABC affiliate, which reported trash and food scattered around the home.
The children were reported to be “in good health and not malnourished” by the first responders who checked on them on behalf of Child Protective Services. It is believed that no adults had checked on the young kids during the six days that their mother was away.
However, Williams apparently left the kids home after posting a camera inside the apartment in order to watch her children from afar. Both of the kids were removed from the disorderly home and given to their aunt for care.
According to a criminal complaint, Williams was also “not cooperating” with law enforcement and was “switching up her story on her whereabouts” when questioned by police. The suspect’s neighbors told authorities that she had left her apartment with luggage on April 4.
The specific details about “how” the kids were abandoned for nearly a week remains under investigation, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the Harris County Constable Precinct 5. The station emphasized that the kids “are safe now and those responsible should be held accountable” for having endangered the children.
Williams was arrested, charged and booked in the Harris County Detention Facility one day after she came back to Houston from her Caribbean cruise. Her bond has been set at $25,000 and she was scheduled to appear in court on Monday, April 15.
