FAYETTEVILLE, NC — A mother has been arrested after her 18-month-old daughter was found roaming a Fayetteville street Tuesday in a diaper and no shoes.
Detectives interviewed the girl’s parents after two people found the girl on Bragg Boulevard near Shaw Road, police said.
Evangela Jones, 25, of the 300 Block of Old Shaw Road was taken into custody soon after she was reunited with her daughter.
The incident began just before noon when Courtney Thomas was driving along Old Shaw Road and spotted 18-month old Zoe crying and walking in the street, Thomas told CBS North Carolina.
Thomas said that Zoe had on a t-shirt and diaper, but was without shoes.
Thomas says she immediately went to a nearby gas station and called police.
Fayetteville police searched the area for nearly two hours looking for Zoe’s parents.
Mom Evangela Jones eventually arrived on scene and embraced young Zoe. But that happy reunion was soon cut short when several minutes later Jones was taken into custody.
“It was really scary cause we’re on a bad side of town any way, anybody could have stopped and got her, she could have gotten hit,” said Courtney Thomas, who found Zoe.
“Nobody would have ever known if I would have just picked her up and kept going, no one would have ever known, nobody was outside, no one called to report her missing, none of that,” Thomas added.
Jones was charged with child neglect. DSS is also investigating the case.
