Keep your kids away!
A reckless Pennsylvania mom — who only did a two-day prison stint for smothering her 2-month-old son to death after a drug-fueled bender — was at it again when a toddler she was babysitting was found wandering the streets alone in near-freezing weather.
Arissa Ward, 32, was supposed to be watching the little boy Tuesday morning when he was “found in the middle of the road” with no shoes or socks on in nippy 37-degree weather, according to criminal complaint, Law & Crime reported.
A passerby spotted the young boy on West Main Street in Windsor and contacted the authorities Pennsylvania State Police told the outlet.
Officers quickly canvassed the area and alerted Children and Youth Services who told cops “to check Arissa Ward,” who lived in the area and had a troubled past when it came to caring for kids.
Ward, a mother herself, was previously convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment after falling asleep and smothering her baby to death while drunk and high on marijuana.
Troopers knocked on her door, when she allegedly told them “I’m babysitting and I just woke up. What is going on,” the outlet reported.
They asked if she was “missing a kid,” to which Ward shamefully replied, “Yes, yes, but he is not mine,” according to the arrest affidavit.
“My kids and I were asleep. … I didn’t know he opened up my door,” Ward allegedly told the troopers.
The babysitter explained that the boy’s mother had dropped him off at 6:30 a.m. while she was asleep with her children.
The toddler’s mother told police that Ward’s front door was unusually unlocked when she dropped her son off — and she walked upstairs and took her son into Ward’s bedroom, which had the door open, and had to wake Ward up.
She eventually woke up and the toddler’s mother placed him in bed with Ward, where she immediately fell back asleep and had to be woken up again by the mother, according to the affidavit.
The tot’s mother claimed she did not close Ward’s bedroom door and is not certain if the baby gate was latched behind her, though she did pull the front door shut as she left.
Ward texted the toddler’s mother around 9:19 a.m. and said “Good morning babe!! Whatcha doin. B – where is you.” The mother responded with “Hey girl!!!! Im at work lol. I was a little later today hope i dont get into trouble lol,” according to police.
Around 30 minutes later, it is alleged that Ward texted the boy’s mother saying, “Where’s [the boy]???”
The toddler’s mother called Ward five times, with each call going to voicemail before police called the mom advising that her child was in police custody after being located wandering in the street.
Ward was arrested and slapped with a felony charge of child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering another person.
The charges come after Ward spent just two days in prison in 2018 after she pleaded no contest to the death of her 2-month-old son in her sleep in 2016.
Her son died of asphyxiation — and marijuana was found in his system, which was allegedly ingested through breastfeeding.
Ward also allegedly testing positive for marijuana just six days before she was sentenced in 2018, The Patriot-News reported at the time.
She was meant to serve at least three months behind bars in line with Pennsylvania state sentencing guidelines, but shown leniency by the judge — hoping the lighter sentence would be an opportunity to “do a little bit of penance.”
Ward posted bail this week and is due back in court on May 5.
