A selfish mother from Ohio faces jail time for leaving her twin daughters with special needs in the care of her 10-year-old while she flew to Florida for her friend’s liposuction surgery.
Dominique Knowles, 32, is accused of leaving her three children home alone without a phone while she was away for nearly three days.
Police say Knowles used a laptop to check in on them via FaceTime while occasionally monitoring their activity through security cameras. On one night, they ate food ordered through Uber Eats which was left outside the door.
Prosecuting attorney Michael Maloney says the mom’s young girls made it clear that she ‘wasn’t really checking in’ as she traveled with a pal.
‘Remote work is one thing, remote mom is another,’ he said.
Domonique Knowles was arrested for child endangerment after leaving her 10-year-old in charge of twin sisters with special needs for nearly three days
Officers responded to the welfare check and found the girls alone in the ‘filthy’ apartment that had liquid spilled over the floor
Knowles was found guilty of child endangerment earlier this month. She told officers in body camera footage: ‘My kids are allowed to be here by themselves.’
‘Not when you have two special needs kids,’ responded the arresting officer.
Her 10-year-old daughter was left in charge of her two 7-year-old twin sisters who have special needs, while Knowles took her 8-month-old son on the trip.
It was the 10-year-old’s teacher who asked police to perform a welfare check on the children after a worrying conversation with the child.
On a phone call to the police, the teacher said: ‘[The 10-year-old] kind of reported to her teacher that she talked to mom on the camera last night and that mom ordered them Uber Eats and left it at the door.’
Officers found the apartment to be filthy, with liquid spilled all over the floor and while they reported to the situation one of the twin girls slipped and fell.
The 10-year-old’s teacher called for a welfare check on the children after a conversation with the student revealed that mom was out of town
Maloney said that Knowles never told the children’s grandmother that she was leaving the kids and going out of state.
He told Cleveland 19: ‘It was worse. Mom lied to her mother. There were adults available to help out.’
Knowles also initially denied leaving the state, until Police proved she had spent two nights in Miami.
‘She lied,’ said Maloney. ‘The detective caught on quickly, they showed her leaving Hopkins airport on the evening in question, [and] timed the calls showing mom at an airport in Miami in about a two hour frame.’
Maloney pointed out that time frame is roughly the time it takes to fly from Cleveland to Miami.
Prosecuting attorney Michael Maloney revealed that Knowles’s mother was available to look after the children, but Knowles lied to her and didn’t tell her she was leaving the children alone
‘When mom was confronted with that, she changed her story and said something about having to be in Miami because her friend needed liposuction surgery,’ he added.
Maloney also explained that the patio door was unlocked when officers arrived, he said: ‘Every teacher and counselor at the school said there is no question these girls would have wandered off given the chance.
He added: ‘I don’t want to explain the things that could have happened then, a kidnapping, walking out behind a car.’
Knowles will be sentenced on Wednesday and could face up to six months in prison.
