A 29-year-old Houston mother faces charges of abandonment after she allegedly left her two children home alone for five days while she went on a cruise, and court records show this isn’t the first time she’s done it.
Lakesha Woods Williams was taken into custody on April 10, and remains jailed on a $25,000 bond after police said they found her 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son home alone at the family’s luxury high-rise apartment in Memorial City on April 9.
Williams was charged with two counts of felony child endangerment, according to the Harris Country Constable in Precinct 5.
The kids were by themselves for five full days after Williams went on vacation alone, authorities said.
She left on April 4, and returned home and was arrested on April 10, a day after police were called by neighbors who feared the woman’s children had been left unattended for several days.
Witnesses told police that they last saw Williams hauling luggage out of the building five days earlier.
“Many of the residents were worried about the children and have said this is not the first time that something like this has occurred,” court documents said, according to KTRK, the ABC affiliate in Houston.
Police said the apartment was a mess, reeked of urine, and that the children had been in survival mode, cooking for themselves.
The children told police that their mom was on a cruise and that they didn’t know when she was coming back.
Authorities seized a webcam device that Williams used to monitor the children from thousands of miles away, as well as a phone that the 8-year-old used to send text messages to his mom during her Caribbean getaway.
Authorities quickly determined Williams had flown to Miami five days earlier and boarded a cruise bound for Puerto Rico.
When law enforcement officials finally reached Williams over the phone, they said she was uncooperative and tried to conceal her whereabouts.
Late last week, Williams faced a judge who increased her bond due to allegations that she had left her children alone in the past under similar circumstances.
Williams’ attorney claimed she paid a cousin to watch her children, but he ran off with the money.
Assistant District Attorney Keegan Childers wasn’t buying the story.
“You left your child unattended for four days. Let’s say you leave the country out on a trip, and the cousin doesn’t go to take care of the children. If this is really a plane flight like she says it is, wouldn’t you as a parent be on the first plane back immediately?” he asked.
If she does make bail, Williams will face additional bond conditions, including a daily curfew and a requirement to wear an ankle monitor to track all her movements.
Meanwhile, the children have been placed in the custody of Williams’ sister, and the judge also issued a protective order that prohibits Williams from contacting or being near her son and daughter.
Paramedics and state Child Protective Services officials examined the children and found they were not physically abused or malnourished.
