Background, left to right: Haley Peoples, Rebecca Kelly (Bexar County (Tex.) Sheriff's Office). Inset: Peoples' 2-year-old daughter, reportedly seen on game camera footage in cold weather (Bexar County Sheriff's Office).
Two women in Texas are accused of putting a 2-year-old girl in harm's way after the child was seen on surveillance camera wandering a field at around 3 a.m. in near-freezing temperatures.
Haley Peoples, 21, and her mother, Rebecca Kelly, 50, were arrested on Friday, according to a statement from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. According to authorities, a "deeply concerning" call came in around 6 a.m. that day from a property owner who said that "her game camera captured footage of a young child wandering alone in the woods at around 3:00 a.m."
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The child was "wearing only but a dress and no shoes," the sheriff's statement noted, adding that temperatures at that time were in the 40s.
Authorities launched a search, but within hours, the girl's mother herself had called law enforcement.
"At 7:20 a.m., a woman later identified as Haley Peoples reported that her 2-year-old daughter had 'gotten out of the home' earlier that morning," the sheriff's statement says. "Haley claimed she found the child outside at 4:15 a.m. but did not contact law enforcement for several hours while deputies were actively searching."
Deputies went to the girl's home, where they say they found "unsafe living conditions — including trash, soiled clothing, rotting food, rat droppings, and a heavy odor of urine."
The child was also "found soiled," the statement said.
Peoples "declined care and refused to change the child's clothing," a factor in deputies' decision to detain Peoples at that time, according to the statement.
Officials noted that a total of four children — the girl seen on the camera and three siblings — lived in the home.
The girl's grandmother apparently made an appearance while deputies were at the home — but left soon thereafter.
"During the investigation, the child's grandmother, Rebecca Kelly, returned to the scene but left after being asked to wait for a supervisor," the statement said. "Shortly afterward, deputies learned that Rebecca had gone to an Elementary School, where she attempted to remove the three other siblings from class before 9:00 a.m. School staff reported she claimed CPS was arriving and told the children not to talk about the early-morning incident, calling it a 'private family matter.'"
Officials called this an "attempt to interfere with a child-safety investigation" that further endangered the child and "obstructed lawful efforts to ensure their wellbeing."
Kelly was detained at the school. All four children were taken to the hospital for evaluation, the sheriff's statement noted.
Peoples faces a charge of abandoning and endangering a child with imminent danger of bodily injury. Kelly was arrested for interference with an investigation of abuse or neglect. They were booked into the Bexar County Jail; officials have confirmed to Law&Crime that neither woman is in custody.
