Kendra Leonard went to Halloween Horror Nights, Left her Baby home alone

[Hellsbells]

ORLANDO, Fla -- An Orange County mother was arrested for leaving her 15-month-old baby alone for seven hours so she could go to Halloween Horror Nights, Orlando police said. She was charged with child neglect.

The child is in DCF custody Friday. Officials said she had two other children taken away from her for neglect.

WFTV was there when 28-year-old Kendra Leonard walked out of jail Friday afternoon. She walked around the parking lot and across the street looking for family and friends who were not there to pick her up.

"Why would you leave a child alone for seven hours?" WFTV reporter Mary Nguyen asked.

But she ignored WFTV's questions.

For hours, police thought Leonard was in danger and launched an air and ground search.

Police says Leonard left her baby at home alone to go to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights with a friend, but when she didn't have enough money to get into the theme park, she decided to hang out at CityWalk. While she was gone, someone broke into her apartment.

"The first thing I thought about was the baby. Oh my God, they say they can't find her. The baby's been crying all day. And, oh, this, and, oh, that and, oh my God. My heart just dropped," relative Cynthia McKenney told WFTV on Thursday night.

Family members of Kendra Leonard worried throughout the evening Thursday, after police found her apartment broken into and her 15-month-old daughter alone.

A bloodhound was brought in to help search for the child's mother, but police were stunned when the woman simply appeared at the scene after many hours had passed.

"After about seven hours, the mother walked up to us and, after further investigation, we were able to charge the mother with child neglect," explained Lt. Arnold Alvarez, Orlando Police Department.

Leonard told police she was out with a friend and acknowledged that she simply left her child home alone and, in a shocking turn, the apartment was burglarized while the baby was alone in her crib. Fortunately, the baby was unharmed.

"The child is fine, the child is healthy. There are no issues with the child," Alvarez said.

Police found the child in a dirty diaper and she was surrounded by popcorn, which is one of the biggest choking hazards for small children. The home was also filthy and with no running water. There were roaches all over the apartment.
DCF said this was not the first time Leonard has been accused of neglect. She was recently investigated in September and officials say she has lost custody of two other children in the past because of neglect.

A judge decided Friday morning that the baby will remain in state custody for now.

http://www.wftv.com/news/25559114/de...=cmg_cntnt_rss

[TwiztidAngel]

Leonard told police she was out with a friend and acknowledged that she simply left her child home alone and, in a shocking turn, the apartment was burglarized while the baby was alone in her crib. Fortunately, the baby was unharmed.

ugh! stupid stupid bitch! this could have turned into a major tragedy! i hope she never gets baby girl back! DSS should really change their rules regarding siblings born to cumdumpsters after they have other kids taken away...i asked a CPS friend of mine about it and she said they dont take babies born after other kids are taken into custody because that child is not in the original referral...unless the baby is born addicted to something there is nothing DSS can do unless someone calls on her about the new baby...how backwards is that??

[NoWhining1]

ugh! stupid stupid bitch! this could have turned into a major tragedy! i hope she never gets baby girl back!?

I guess it really doesn't matter if they give the baby girl back or not. She'll be squirting out at least 5 more on the taxpayer's dime anyway. She'll just have more kids to neglect. This one makes no difference either way.

[VXIII]

At the very least and I mean least there should be close supervision on a paretn that loses children then gives birth to more babies...

[Tundratot]

She returned after seven hours during which the police were involved. How long had the baby been alone prior to that? And was this her habit? Was the baby in good condition or showing signs of malnutrition and neglect? If the baby was surrounded by popcorn, was she thinking this was food for the baby or was she hoping the roaches would carry her baby away?

[Dakota Valkyrie]

She walked around the parking lot and across the street looking for family and friends who were not there to pick her up.

I hope they NEVER picked her up. I sure hope she's not some welfare mom.

Sgt. Barbara Jones of the Orlando Police Department said Leonard told investigators she had gone to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, but didn't have enough money for admission. Instead, she went to party at Universal CityWalk.

Leonard was booked into the Orange County Jail on a child-neglect charge. Records show she was released after posting $1,000 bond later Friday.
[...]

Orange County Court records show Leonard lost custody of her other two children in 2008. Adjudication was withheld in that case stemming from a 2007 arrest on a child-neglect charge. A complaint also had been filed earlier claiming she neglected this toddler, but it was unsubstantiated.

"The agency will most definitely take into consideration the long history of neglect as it relates to the older siblings when making decisions for this child," Hoeppner said. "You may have a long history of abuse related to older siblings, but that alone doesn't always give you the legal sufficiency to remove the new sibling [from the parent]."
[...]

Friends and family told police that Leonard had them drive her back and forth to Walmart from her apartment to withdraw money Thursday, as well as telling them a tale of having $1,300 in cash stashed away under her mattress.
[...]

Leonard told authorities a 55-inch, flat-screen television was stolen from her apartment.

Family said Leonard's apartment had been burglarized several times in the past. In one incident, an ex-boyfriend had been accused of stealing her television while she was at work.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...nt-orlando-mom

[misssmartypants]

Couldnt pay for a sitter, couldnt pay to get in the haunted house....but could pay for bail? WTF. There are ways you can still get your ho on without getting pregnant. Jesus, she should try going that route, instead of having babies than mean less to her than a hampster.

[TwiztidAngel]

Couldnt pay for a sitter, couldnt pay to get in the haunted house....but could pay for bail? WTF. There are ways you can still get your ho on without getting pregnant. Jesus, she should try going that route, instead of having babies than mean less to her than a hampster.

of course! everyone knows when you have 1,300 stuffed in your mattress (supposedly) it is only to be used for EMERGENCIES--i.e. drugs or bail

[Tundratot]

It's interesting to me that the apartment was broken into while she was gone and her TV stolen. I wonder if the perp knew she had cash in there, too? Was he or she looking for the stuff this woman kept bragging about?