Baby, toddler left home alone while mother in hospital, Daytona Beach police say

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Daytona Beach mother is facing child-neglect charges after she admitted she left her children home alone for four hours, police said.

Katherine Christian, 25, was arrested Saturday.

A friend of Christian, said she contacted Christian through Facebook to check on her sons who are 8 months old and a one-year-old, and were home alone, police said. The father of the boys was at work, police said.

Christian was at Halifax hospital with her mother and told the friend the father of the children was at work, police said.

Christian said she had a neighbor check on the children every 30 to 60 minutes, with instructions to notify her if anything happened to the apartment, investigators said.

Police said they went to the home on Raceway Pointe Drive and said there were dirty dishes all over the sink and kitchen counters. There were also soiled diapers throughout the apartment and clothing and trash on the floors, investigators said.

A baby crib was soaked with an unknown liquid and had multiple dirty wipes in it, police said.

Both children were in a playpen in the bedroom, surrounded by dirty clothing and trash, but were not injured, police said. The children had soiled diapers and were hungry, police said.

Christian told police she left the home at 8:30 a.m., and returned at 10 a.m. to feed her children. Police determined the children were by themselves for four hours.

Cox Media Group