Rhonda Louise Sheppard, 32, of Troy, was arraigned Feb. 21 on charges of child neglect and abandonment, after Oakland County Sheriff’s Department deputies said she left her two-year-old daughter alone in a parked car while the she was inside a bar on Feb. 16.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office also planned to charge the woman with one count of marijuana possession, after deputies found a bag of suspected marijuana in plain view, next to the sleeping child.
OCSD deputies said the little girl was left alone for over an hour late in the evening, while the woman was inside the Catalina Lounge on Baldwin Road.
According to the report, the girl was sleeping in a car seat in a 1999 Mercury Mountaineer.
A witness confirmed that the mother was drinking alcohol inside the establishment. The Troy woman admitted to leaving the child unattended.
It was about 40 degrees and raining when deputies responded to the call at about 11:30 p.m.
A Family Independence Agency caseworker responded to the OCSD’s Orion Substation, and the two-year-old was placed with the mother of the boyfriend that the Troy woman was at the bar with, until alternative placement can be found.
If she’s found guilty of Civil Child Neglect charges, the woman’s parental rights could be permanently revoked.
The OCSD said the same woman also left her 11-year-old son at home alone in Troy during the incident in Orion Township.
The Troy Police responded and turned the boy over to family relatives.