Background: Robertson County (Tenn.) Detention Facility (Google Maps). Inset: Shelby Bradshaw (Robertson County Sheriff’s Office).
A mom in Tennessee is behind bars after allegedly leaving her 2-year-old daughter alone at home for more than nine hours.
Shelby Bradshaw, aged 33, has been accused of child abuse and neglect based on jail records from the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office. Reports from local ABC affiliate WKRN state that Bradshaw was met by police on a Thursday morning at the apartment complex in Greenbrier, a city just over 20 miles north of Nashville, where she and the child resided.
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Authorities were called to the apartment complex when a maintenance crew discovered the toddler alone in the apartment during a routine inspection of the unit. Police initiated a search of the complex to locate the child’s mother.
Greenbriar Police Office Curt Allen told WKRN that he was the first officer on the scene and discovered the child in her crib.
One of the maintenance crew members shared their experience, saying, “I walked up to the bed and the little girl stood up in the crib and put her arms up like she wanted me to pick her up, and I did. I held her until a family member arrived, probably 25 to 30 minutes after the initial call. It was a distressing experience,” Allen expressed.
“You could tell [the child] was trying to figure out what was going on,” he said. “She was scared [and] nervous — and once we got in there and picked her up, she seemed fine that we were there and maybe just happy that someone was in the house with her at that point.”
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When Bradshaw arrived — allegedly more than nine hours after leaving the child alone — police were there to greet her. Body camera footage shows officers confronting Bradshaw, who appeared confused as to why police were there.
She allegedly told authorities that she had driven about 25 minutes away to see a man. She reportedly said that her daughter usually sleeps through the night and she expected to be there when the girl woke up.
“She made statements that she is a full-time mother and needed a break and that she had tried to rely on others the night before, but wasn’t able to find anybody,” Detective Joseph Chelini with the Greenbrier Police Department said, according to WKRN.
Records show that Bradshaw is in jail on a $25,000 bond.
The child is staying with relatives and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services is investigating, WKRN reported.
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