Background: Crystal Ray allegedly left her children in the St. Ann, Mo. neighborhood during a severe weather warning (Google Maps). Inset: Crystal Ray (St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office).
A Missouri woman was accused by prosecutors of abandoning her four children, all under the age of 10, during a severe weather warning.
St. Ann police arrested Crystal Ray, 27, on March 14 after receiving reports of four young children, aged between 8 months and 8 years, being left alone at home during a severe weather alert, as per a criminal complaint. According to prosecutors, Ray, upon police contact, displayed signs of intoxication and resisted arrest by attacking the officers.
Local CBS affiliate KMOV disclosed that on March 14, as the weather worsened, a family member alerted authorities about the children’s well-being. The storm brought about hazardous conditions, including brush fires, power disruptions, fallen power lines, and extensive debris in the vicinity, as detailed in the criminal complaint. The children, described as highly distressed, informed officers that their mother had departed while sirens were sounding.
The complaint stated that the children were likely left alone for “several hours.”
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While details about how Ray was tracked down and found were not provided in the complaint, the prosecutor wrote that she “resisted by wrestling” and by “hitting and kicking” the arresting officers.
Ray was charged with four felony counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of resisting arrest. She was booked on $75,000 cash-only bail and deemed a danger to her children. She also allegedly “threatened to kill the reporting party.” Her next court date was not made available.
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