Insets: Thea Chyanne Sorrell and Matthew Brown (Sullivan County Sheriff's Office). Background: The 500 block of Bancroft Chapel Road in Kingsport, Tennessee, where Sorrell allegedly left her kids alone for the weekend (Google Maps).
A mother in Tennessee allegedly left her four children — including three under 8 — alone in an "unsanitary and unsafe" home over the weekend and never checked in on them until cops showed up.
Thea Chyanne Sorrell, 33, faces three counts of child abuse or neglect of a child under 8 along with misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and child endangerment. Matthew Brown, 37, faces drug and weapons charges in connection with Sorrell's alleged absence.
The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that deputies responded around 9 a.m. Sunday to a home in the 500 block of Bancroft Chapel Road in Kingsport, which is in northeast Tennessee. When deputies arrived, they found the four children alone.
"Deputies also observed unsanitary and unsafe conditions inside the home," the press release stated. "A dog was found without adequate access to food or water."
The children said they had been alone since Friday and had not heard from Sorrell since then, per cops.
Officials with the Department of Children's Services along with the Sullivan County Animal Control responded to assist.
Later in the day, a pickup truck arrived at the home with Sorrell as a passenger. Cops arrested her.
Deputies identified the driver of the truck as Brown, of Elizabethton, which is about 30 miles away from the home where the children were found. He allegedly had what deputies believed to be methamphetamine in his pocket. Inside the car, cops said, they found heroin, several baggies of meth and four loaded handguns, including one that was stolen.
There also was a bag with nearly 20 prescription pills, 18.5 grams of marijuana, mushrooms and $5,000 in cash, the press release stated. Cops also allegedly recovered brass knuckles and an ax.
Brown now faces a slew of drug and weapons-related charges.
Both remained in the Sullivan County Jail as of Tuesday. Sorrell has a $50,000 bond while Brown's bond is $100,000. They have a court date scheduled for Thursday.