Homeless Mother Who Left Kids in Car for Job Interview is Recharged

shenesah taylor

The homeless woman in Arizona who garnered national sympathy because she was arrested after she left her two very young children in a hot  car while she went to a job interview, has had charges against her reinstated after authorities say she failed to follow court guidelines conditional to her release.

Shanesha Taylor reportedly failed to deposit $60,000 into an account for her children, a stipulation that she agreed to in July and was conditional to her release. On Monday Taylor appeared in an Arizona courtroom with her attorney, who explained that Taylor is still jobless and wants to set up a trust fund but was hoping to do so at a lower amount.

Taylor, as you recall, kicked off a national debate surrounding child care and homelessness following her arrest in March. Taylor’s story and police photo, which showed the mom in tears, went viral. The public pitched in, and a crowdfunding site raised more than $114,700 for Taylor’s benefit,

Perhaps because of the public outpouring of sympathy, the courts decided to drop two class-3 felony child-abuse charges against the mom based on some conditions.

The courts said charges against Taylor “would be dropped if Taylor performed a checklist of tasks. Prime in that list was that [she] use $60,000 of that money to set up a trust fund for her children’s education and child-care expenses. She also had to attend parenting classes.”

If Taylor failed to complete the tasks, charges could be reinstated.

“My client still wants to fund the trust fund,” attorney Benjamin Taylor (no relation) told the court, Crime Feed reports. “It’s just a matter of being able to still survive — and still live off of these trust funds — and still get a job in the future.”

The attorney noted that Taylor has met most of the conditions and has paid for child care through April 2015.

Taylor is scheduled to appear in court and has been ordered to bring bank statements so the court can see what has happened to the money she received from donations. If convicted of the two child-abuse charges, she faces up to 18 months in jail and may have even more trouble finding employment with two felonies on her record.

A trial date has been set for Dec. 10.

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