Nacogdoches County Woman Charged in Abandonment Case

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According to a release by the Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Office, a woman was arrested over the weekend on a felony charge for allegedly leaving a young child home alone.

Britnie Nicole Jeffress, 28, is charged with abandoning a child with intent to return, which is a state jail felony. She was booked into the county jail on Friday, October 21, and released after posting the $7,500 bond set by a Justice of the Peace.

Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Office deputies began their investigation around 11:50 p.m. Friday night when 911 operators received a call from a resident in the 2000 block of FM 2864 near Appleby that a 4-year-old child knocked on their door asking to be let inside.

The child had walked a short distance from one residence to the other and said they had been left home alone. While deputies were interviewing the child and adult neighbor, the child spotted a car that looked like one belonging to the child’s parent pass by the residence.

A deputy who was interviewing the child left the home and made a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle, which was being driven by Jeffress. She said that she had left the home to take care of a family emergency at a local hospital and had been gone only a short time. Deputies found her account to be fabricated, at which point Jeffress was taken into custody.

During their investigation, deputies reportedly were told Jeffress had been out drinking with a relative that evening at a local bar while the child was left at home unsupervised.

This case is still under investigation.