GULFPORT, Fla. (WFLA) — The mother arrested after leaving her three unattended inside a mini school bus parked in the Gulfport municipal beach parking lot overnight, was given a $30,000 bond Sunday morning.
Andrea Kerrins went before a judge Sunday morning. All three of her kids, ages, 3,6, and 9 have been placed in a foster home with the Department of Children and Families.
Gulfport Police say Officer Christopher Priest found the bus around 4:42 a.m. Saturday morning during routine patrol. He said the children told him their mother left them in the bus around 9 p.m. Friday night and went out on a boat.
Gulfport marine patrol searched the area and found the 33-year-old mother, on-board a boat owned by a 46-year-old man. Police said she had been smoking marijuana and she said she intended to spend the night on the boat.
Inside the bus, officers found a bin of mostly perishable food with no cooler or refrigerator. There was a five gallon bucket near the front door that was designated as the toilet.
Kerrins was charged with three counts of felony child neglect.
The Florida Department of Children and Families have taken custody of the children ‘for the time being,’ police said.
The name on the bus, Meg’s Playhouse and Preschool, appears to be a defunct organization with which Kerrins is not affiliated, the police department said.
