An Ohio mother was arrested after leaving her three young kids home alone for nearly three days while she went to Florida to support a friend's liposuction surgery.
The incident took place earlier this month in Cleveland, Ohio, when Domonique Knowles' 10-year-old daughter informed a teacher that she was left in charge of her two 7-year-old twin sisters with special needs. The teacher naturally became concerned, leading to a welfare check and police discovering three children alone in the home.
"[The 10-year-old] kind of reported to her teacher that she talked to mom on the camera last night and that mom ordered them Uber Eats and left it at the door," the teacher told police, according to Cleveland 19 News.
When authorities arrived at the scene, they found the kids living in unsanitary conditions. Police got in touch with the kid's grandmother who told police she had no idea of her daughter's travel plans or grandkid's situation.
"It was worse," Michael Maloney, prosecuting attorney, told the outlet. "Mom lied to her mother. There were adults that were available to help out."
When Knowles was confronted by police, she tried denying she was out of state at the time. Police quickly investigated her whereabouts and found footage of Knowles leaving Hopkins airport, leading to her confession about flying to be with a friend for a liposuction surgery.
"She lied," Maloney said. "They showed her leaving Hopkins airport on the evening in question, timed the calls showing mom at an airport in Miami in about a two-hour time frame, which, of course, is about the flight time from Cleveland to Miami, and when mom was confronted with that, she changed her story and said something about having to be in Miami because her friend needed liposuction surgery."
Despite Knowles telling police her kids were allowed to be home alone, she was found guilty of child endangerment.
"Mom wasn't really checking in. Remote work is one thing, remote mom is another. But mom wasn't even checking in," Maloney said.
Following the conviction, on Wednesday, Knowles was sentenced to 360 days of house arrest and five years of probation.
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