Mom charged after police say she abandoned special-needs son

ATLANTA (WJW) -- Atlanta police charged a mother with cruelty to children on Wednesday after her special needs teenager was found abandoned at a hospital, cold, confused and unable to say who he was.

The mother told investigators she left her 14-year-old son at Grady Memorial Hospital because she felt overwhelmed caring for him as well as three other children, police said.

Police had pleaded for information from the public to identify the child, whom they described as non-verbal, with a diminished mental capacity and unable to answer questions.

Tips led them to his mother, Diana Elliott, 37, who was staying at a local hotel with three other children. It wasn't immediately clear whether she has a lawyer who could speak on her behalf.

Surveillance video showed a woman escorting the teenager into the hospital on the night of Dec. 4, and then leaving alone in a red minivan. The boy was later found outside.