Westmoreland County Mother Explains Why She Left 2 Children Alone For Hours In What Police Say Were 'Deplorable Conditions'
WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) -- A local woman said she was just trying to do what was right and provide for her children after she allegedly left her two children alone in "deplorable conditions" for hours.
Danielle Thompson is charged with leaving her two children alone with the oven on and open for heat.
"I want people to know I did a wrong thing, but I do love my children," Thompson said before her court appearance on Wednesday.
"I worked night shift, and I had no help," she added. "I figured that I should at least try to do what I thought was right in a messed up situation where I was damned if I did, damned if I didn't."
State police charged the 24-year-old last December after a neighbor heard one of Thompson's two children inside their home in the Huntingdon Village apartments in Hunker.
According to the criminal complaint, the door was unlocked and open when police arrived. They knocked, and no one answered. As they stepped inside the apartment, they discovered what they described as "deplorable conditions."
Police also discovered the oven was set to 450 degrees and running as a way to heat the apartment. The thermostat reportedly read 80 degrees.
"I had it on lowest setting as a form of heat, cause the kids' rooms get really cold,' Thompson said. "Wanted make sure they were warm."
A child was found sleeping on the carpet next to a pile of toys, and police say the child only had a pillow and blanket — no shirt.
State Police said they also found another child in a crib "with dried vomit around the mouth and dirty clothes."
The criminal complaint said the children — ages 4 and 1 — were "visibly hungry and the diaper was dirty and needed changed."
"I know I deserve to be in jail, but I know I don't deserve to rot either," Thompson said.
She remains in thet Westmoreland County Jail.
Both the children are with their grandmother and are doing well.