Mother of Girl Left Alone At Walmart Facing Charges

[pirate_girl]

The mother of a three year old, left at a west side Walmart, is arrested. And this afternoon, she temporarily lost custody of 11 of her children. Moriyyah Israel is charged with child endangering after leaving her daughter, Binah, in the store and, according to police, telling workers there that the child was not hers.

Local 12's Joe Webb has been following the story Moriyyah Israel spent most of the morning being questioned by police and most of the afternoon in juvenile court for a custody hearing.

Family members tell us Israel has 15 children...11 under the age of 18 who she takes care of. They claim she inadvertently left the girl at Wal-mart. Court documents say the woman who left the child at Wal-mart specifically said it was not her child. Wearing handcuffs and leg irons, Moriyyah Israel seemed stunned in juvenile court today, but agreed to temporarily give up custody of her children. Three-year-old Binah is one of 11 siblings who will be placed with family by Children's Services.

Court documents say the little girl was at the Westwood Wal-mart with a woman, a man and two little boys. When they checked out, they left the girl behind and told workers the little girl was not with them. Wal-mart workers say Binah had no underwear and had wet herself. They pitched in and bought her some food and new clothes. Family members say it was all an accident by a woman overwhelmed by taking care of 15 children.

Gabrea McCoy, Binah's Aunt: "Yea, it's a lot of kids to take care of, but she's been doing the best she can and we're here to jump in and help and maybe we should have helped a lot sooner. Maybe we should have jumped in, but they've always done it on their own."

Moriyyah Israel had been married to the same man for 21 years, the father of 14 of her children, who died two years ago. They say at that time, it became much harder for her to take care of the children. The family says she wasn't aware Binah was gone until this morning. So far, no one has been able to explain that.

Children's Services says they will work with family members to temporarily place the 11 underage children. They will allow Moriyyah Israel supervised visits but no overnight stays with the children.

http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/...At-Walmart-Facing/w1DPnmZt0kSzov9nChjFLQ.cspx

 

[NorthernRedneck]

We talk about case scenerios like this all the time working in child welfare. The training I was just taking this time around dealt with all the court processes involved in removing a child from their parent and placing them in a foster home. In this case, it's a clearcut case of abandonment with is highly frowned upon by our agency and warrents an immediate apprehension and the child being put in a place of safety. An investigation is then pursued by us and the police and the child is then either returned to the parent or we have to apply to the courts to have a temporary care agreement (TCA) put in place for a period of time not exceeding twelve months. After that twelve months is up, the child is either returned to the parents if they have met all of the conditions set forth by the judge or the agency then applies for the children to become a ward of the crown. Once the child is made a crown ward, the agency now takes on full responsibility for that child until they are the age of 18. Allot of the other agencies seek adoption as an option for the child. Ours rarely does since we are dealing with aboriginal children and adoption is something that is frowned upon highly by the aboriginal people due to the "60's scoop"(look it up sometime)