Woman faces felony charge for abandoning child

A Cotulla woman has been arrested on a state jail felony charge of child abandonment or endangerment after leaving a youngster alone in an apartment during the night.

When residents of the Madison Pointe apartments in Cotulla had heard a child in distress for at least thirty minutes after midnight Sunday, July 7, they went to the residence and saw the boy in an upstairs window, according to the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office.

La Salle Deputy Natalie Joliet was dispatched to the apartment complex at 2 a.m. Sunday and heard from residents that the child appeared to have been left for an extended period of time and was screaming for help.

The boy’s mother, identified as Chassidy Rosa Sanchez, 28, returned to the apartment during the deputy’s investigation and reportedly said that she and her boyfriend had walked to a convenience store to buy snacks, Lieutenant Homar Olivarez said of the case.

The sheriff’s office has not identified the woman’s boyfriend and has not filed charges against him to date.

“The deputy asked the woman why she had left her child unattended during the night,” Lt. Olivarez said, “and the woman stated that she and her boyfriend had left him because they didn’t want him asking for anything in the store.”

Deputy Joliet reported from her interview with Sanchez that the woman “appeared more concerned about whether her boyfriend would be arrested than over the welfare of her own child,” the lieutenant added.

“None of the stores open at that hour of the night are within any walking distance from Madison Pointe at which you might try to justify leaving a child alone for any length of time,” Olivarez said. “There is an age at which children may be left by themselves or considered capable of being alone for short periods of time – possibly age 13 and up – but this child was not even close to that age.”

The sheriff’s office has confirmed this week that deputies are conducting an investigation into living conditions at the apartment and the child’s treatment, including his physical handling.

“Additional charges may be considered,” the lieutenant said.

Sanchez remained behind bars in lieu of bond Monday.

The boy has been placed in the custody of a family member and the Child Protective Services agency has been contacted with details of the case, according to the sheriff’s office.