HOUSTON — A judge on Monday upheld a Houston mom's $25,000 bond after she was accused of leaving her two children home alone while she was on a cruise.
The judge called the details of 29-year-old Lakesha Woods Williams' case egregious. She is charged with child abandonment with intent to return after leaving the 6 and 8-year-old children home alone for nearly a week, according to court records.
Police did a welfare check on April 9 after a witness told them neighbors in the luxury high-rise apartment complex on Katy Freeway told her that the children were home alone and they were worried about their safety, according to court documents.
Neighbors said they saw Williams leaving with luggage on April 4 around noon and never saw her return. They said this is not the first time something like this has happened.
Officers found the children, a boy and girl, inside the Memorial City-area apartment they described as being in “disarray,” according to court records. They said trash and leftover food was all over the apartment and it smelled like urine. The children told the officers their mother left for a cruise on April 4, and they did not know when she would be back. Court records say officers found a camera in the apartment that Williams used to watch the children and talk to them while she was away. The 8-year-old boy also had a phone he used to text Williams while she was gone.
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Deputies tried to contact Williams, but court records say she was not cooperating and kept changing her whereabouts.
The Houston Fire Department was called to make sure the children were not injured or malnourished. Child Protective Services was also called. The children were released to the custody of their aunt, according to court records.
Williams' defense attorney said she paid her cousin to watch the kids, but he took off with the money.
“You left your child unattended for four days. Let’s say you leave the country out on a trip, and the cousin doesn’t go to take care of the children. If this is really a plane flight like she says it is, wouldn’t you as a parent be on the first plane back immediately?” Assistant District Attorney Keegan Childers asked.
Williams was arrested on Thursday, April 11. She appeared in court Friday where she received a $25,000 bond. On Monday, a judge upheld the bond decision.