Background: The Madison County Detention Center in Richmond, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset: Crystal Neal (Madison County Detention Center).
A Kentucky mother is in trouble after authorities say she dropped her three young children at someone else's home, leading the youngest to go searching for her and nearly getting hit by a car.
Crystal Neal, 40, is in the Madison County Detention Center under no bond, jail records show. She has been charged with first-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 years old or younger and abandonment of a minor.
She faces four counts on both of those charges, Lexington CBS affiliate WKYT reported.
On Saturday, Neal's 11-year-old child was playing with a friend at a home in Richmond, Kentucky, a midsize city about 30 miles southeast of Lexington. The mother allegedly dropped her three other children — ages 6, 5, and 2 — off there and said she was "going to get the children McDonald's."
The owner of the residence was apparently confused, calling the Richmond Police Department and telling the agency that Neal did not ask for permission to drop her children there or state her intentions beforehand.
The kids were reportedly not supervised, and at one point, the 2-year-old child ran into the street looking for Neal and was almost hit by a car.
Officers responded, and they are said to have tried to call Neal six times but didn't receive a response. The 11-year-old tried calling multiple times, too, but to no avail. Thirty minutes after police got to the home, Neal returned, per WKYT.
Roughly three hours had passed since Neal had dropped her youngest kids off.
Police interviewed Neal and searched her phone, and she allegedly told them that she had been working to get an illegal drug. The kids were also interviewed, and they said they were not certain if their mother would come back, with one of them stating upon seeing her, "you left us, mom."
Neal is expected in court on May 20 for a preliminary hearing.
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