Louisiana mom arrested for allegedly leaving her young kids to sleep alone in hot van
05/18/2022 12:40 pm PDT
ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (TCD) -- A 33-year-old woman faces multiple charges after she allegedly left her kids to sleep in a hot van overnight.
According to a statement, on May 11, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office received a tip from the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office that Laquanda Guillory was wanted for three counts of child desertion and could be located at a residence on the 4200 block of Highway 357. She was also reportedly wanted on an outstanding warrant from Lafayette Parish for six counts of aggravated arson.
Deputies from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office went to the home on Highway 357 and found the front door open but no one inside. However, deputies noticed a blue van parked in the driveway. When they looked inside, they saw a child under the age of 12 and another under 7 years old sleeping in the van’s third row. The outside temperature was 81 degrees. Deputies knocked on the window to wake the children up but were unsuccessful on their first try.
A third child, under 11 years old, saw the deputies and "stated that they did not know the location of their mother."
Deputies eventually were able to wake the children inside the van and put them in the back seat of their patrol cars to cool off in the air conditioning. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office says the kids "were shaking and sweat was dripping from their faces."
The children also had "a strong body odor due to poor hygiene and their clothing appeared to be dirty and stained."
St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s deputies made their way inside the home and noticed the residence did not have electricity and smelled "unclean." According to the statement, deputies "determined that every room in the home was dirty, possible human waste was found in the bathroom sink, a window in one of the bedrooms was broken and leftover food was on the cabinets in the kitchen."
Additionally, the doors in the house did not lock.
The juveniles reportedly told deputies they slept in the van because their house did not have air conditioning, and their mother slept elsewhere. Guillory would reportedly come home in the mornings in order to get the children ready for school.
Later that day on May 11, Guillory called the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office to report that her children were not at home. She reportedly told St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Detectives that she went to the laundromat that day. She was booked on three counts of cruelty to juveniles, and her bond was set at $15,000.
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