Reese Louise Myers, a 25-year-old mother from Killeen, Texas, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly leaving her 16-month-old child home alone in favor for a Hinge date 160 miles away in San Antonio, TX.
The child was found by police hanging out of a window and covered in feces while a dog was attempting to attack the baby from the ground below.
After fleeing the state, Myers was apprehended on Nov. 5th and arrested on a fugitive warrant in California. She was charged with abandoning or endangering a child.
The incident happened this past July as Myers embarked on a 400-mile journey to meet a man she had connected with on the dating app Hinge.
She had locked the door with a deadbolt, closed the windows, and set up a baby gate to block the kitchen in anticipation of leaving her child behind and home alone.
During her absence, neighbors alerted authorities around 10 a.m. on July 28th after hearing the toddler’s cries, and seeing the child hanging out of a window on the ground floor.
When police arrived, the child had his head and shoulder hanging outside of the window as neighbors were charged by an aggressive dog as they attempted to pull the toddler out of the window.
The window, thought to have been broken, had been previously “repaired” with plexiglass and cardboard.
According to the Killeen Police Department:
“Officers were told that a child was hanging out near a broken window and an aggressive dog was trying to attack the child. Upon the officers arrival, they observed a child protruding from the window that was repaired with a plexiglass sheeting and cardboard. It was not shattered.”
The police were able to crawl through the window and reach the child who up close, was wearing only a shirt with feces on his body and a diaper rash.
After a search of the house, they determined the toddler was alone save for two dogs that were protective of the child.
According to the arrest affidavit from the Killeen Police Department, officers next called Myers who told them she was in San Antonia to meet a man she met on the dating app Hinge.
Myers claimed she had left her child with a babysitter she had contacted through Facebook.
The affidavit said police contacted the supposed babysitter who denied that she was supposed to be babysitting Myers child and further, said she hadn’t spoken with Myers since 2023.
The sitter was able to corroborate her statement by providing investigators with her message exchange with the mother.
The child was rushed to a local hospital for medical assessment and Child Protective Services subsequently took custody of the child.
A former roommate of the mother said Myer’s would frequently leave her child alone at night while she went out and wouldn’t return until the next day.
When police officers told Myers to head back to Killeen she refused and instead went on the run.
Myers’ actions led to her arrest on Nov 5th for charges of abandoning or endangering a child. She was apprehended on or around Fort Irwin Army Base in California on a fugitive warrant and extradited back to Texas to face the charges.
On Monday, Myers was booked into Bell County Jail and given a $25,000 bond where she remains for her yet to be scheduled court appearance on child endangerment charges.
