SUFFOLK, Va. – An 8-year-old boy was allegedly left home alone for the Memorial Day weekend while his mother traveled out of state.
Kionna Moret, 27, is now facing charges of child neglect and child endangerment after someone called police to report her son being left to fend for himself Saturday.
“To leave an 8-year-old on their own for a weekend and go two states away, to me, is just mind blowing,” said the woman who filed the police report.
The woman wished to remain anonymous to protect her family, but she said her teenage child was outside kicking a ball around Saturday afternoon when the young boy came outside to play.
She said the boy later told her son he was left home for the weekend by his mother who went to South Carolina for the holiday weekend.
The woman told WAVY.com she called authorities around 5 p.m. Saturday after talking with the boy herself.
“I looked over at him and said, ‘Hey, is your mom home? I need to talk to her.’ He got very hesitant and I said again, ‘I need to talk to your mother. Is she home?’ He hesitated again and he said ‘no.’”
According to the woman, the 8-year-old then told her his mother wasn’t planning to come home to Suffolk until Monday.
“I said, ‘Monday?’ and I said, ‘Who is staying with you?’ He said, ‘Nobody, I’m home alone.’ And then I said, ‘You’re home by yourself?’ He said, ‘Yes, my mom said I was old enough because I took Taekwondo.’”
She said the boy told her he had pre-made corned beef hash and pizza for food along with a cell phone to check in with his mom every hour. The boy told her he was to keep her travels a secret.
“He said his mother had told him that she would spank him until he could not sit down if he told anybody,” said the woman.
Police were at Moret’s home near the 100 block of Windsor Court for more than six hours Saturday night, according to the woman. She said there’s still many questions running through her mind.
“How many times have I looked and seen no vehicle in the driveway, and now I wonder if he was inside by himself,” said the woman. “It is very frightening.”
She said she’s relieved the boy was able to get help before a potentially dangerous situation and she’s hopeful Moret will be held accountable.
“If that’s the parenting that she is going to display, she needs to be retrained and be given the privilege back at a later time.”
Moret bonded out of the Western Tidewater Regional Jail on Saturday. The 8-year-old remains in the custody of Child Protective Services.
