South Carolina Mom Leaves Toddler at Walmart, Gets Arrested
A napping toddler was discovered in a shopping cart in the Walmart on Liberty Highway in Anderson, South Carolina at around 8:30 in the morning last Thursday. The only problem? The child's parents were nowhere to be found.
According to the Independent Mail, however, police who responded to the scene did notice a woman lurking around, who attempted to walk away as officers approached her. The woman turned out to be Ashley Spivey, the young boy's mother, who was quickly arrested and charged with child neglect.
Box Store Babysitter
Spivey, whose story according to local police "kept changing and was not making much sense," initially said that she left her son with her boyfriend. But, as FOX Carolina reports, surveillance footage from the store told a different tale:
After reviewing surveillance video, police said it showed Spivey enter the store with the baby in a shopping cart just before 7:30 a.m., dropping him off in the game center, and later leaving the store. She reportedly left on the opposite side of the store where the child was found. She later reentered the store but again walked out, police said of the video. Officers said when she spotted their patrol cars outside, she stared and then walked back inside to the point where they made contact with her.
After the store's staff made a store-wide announcement and went aisle-by-aisle searching for the boy's parents, they called police.
A Boyfriend and a Biscuit
Spivey's boyfriend also refuted her claim that he was the babysitter that day. After police summoned him to the Walmart, he showed up in a dirty work uniform and told officers that Spivey had dropped him off at work with the boy still in the car. She was supposed to bring him back a biscuit, he claimed, but never returned.
Spivey was "acting really weird" on account of having taken muscle relaxers, her boyfriend told officers, "that might be why she is being abnormal."
Related Resources:
- Report: Woman on Muscle Relaxers Left 2-Year-Old Alone in Upstate Walmart (FOX Carolina)
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