A young mother left her 4-year-old son at home alone last week to take a college exam, authorities said.
Khadijah James, 19, of Augusta, was charged with deprivation of a minor after she returned home.
The boy was discovered alone last Tuesday morning after deputies responded to a house alarm on Kinglet Circle in Augusta.
At 8:53 a.m., the child greeted a deputy at the front door and said his mother had left him at home alone, according to a sheriff’s report.
Another officer was able to reach the mother and James came home at 9:25 a.m., saying she had left to take a mid-term at Virginia College, where she was taking a medical assistant program.
James claimed that she had asked her own mother to come take care of the child and thought she was on her way when she left. But the suspect’s mother said she thought another grandparent who lived at the residence was caring for the child.
The child was not injured and the house was clean and well-maintained, a report says.
This is one of many crime stories in this week’s edition of The Jail Report, hitting stores on Wednesday. We also have stories about stolen chemicals at Augusta University, an attack on a correctional officer at the Augusta YDC, an animal cruelty case in Columbia County and a near-deadly shooting in Aiken County.
