John Jefferson
Reese Myers (Bell County Sheriff’s Department).
A Texas woman was recently arrested after she intentionally left her 16-month-old child alone to travel out-of-town to visit a man she met on a dating app, Lone Star State law enforcement say.
Reese Louise Myers, 25, stands accused of one count of abandoning or endangering a child, according to the Killeen Police Department.
The incident in question dates back to the middle of this past summer; the defendant was finally arrested near the small city of Barstow in the Inland Empire region of Southern California on a fugitive warrant earlier this month. She just made her way back to Texas this week.
Late in the morning of July 28, police were called to an apartment on West Hallmark Avenue in Killeen – a large city roughly 70 miles due north of Austin – to check on the welfare of a child, a spokesperson for the Killeen Police Department told Law&Crime.
“Officers were told that a child was hanging out near a broken window and an aggressive dog was trying to attack the child,” the department said in a statement. “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.”
Inside the apartment, the child was found alone, wearing a T-shirt “and nothing else,” police allege. The toddler also allegedly had feces on their skin and visible signs of diaper rash.
“Officers conducted a sweep of the apartment and it showed the child was alone, with the exception of two dogs,” the police department’s account of the search continued. “Officers contacted the mother of the child, who advised that she was currently in San Antonio and had been there since the day before.”
San Antonio is roughly 160 miles south-southwest Killeen.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital and then placed in the custody of state Child Protective Services.
When police called Myers, she allegedly said she had traveled to the Alamo City to visit a man she met on Hinge, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Waco-based Fox affiliate KWKT.
The mother allegedly went on to tell police that she left her child with a babysitter she met on Facebook. So, police followed up to see what the alleged babysitter had to say about the situation.
“Officers then made contact with the babysitter, who advised she had previously babysat for the suspect last year in December and hadn’t spoken to her since,” the police narrative continues. “She showed officers her Facebook messages and there were no messages after December 2023.”
Law enforcement also said the house itself was laid out and set up in such a way to suggest Myers intended to leave her son alone.
Precautions are said to have been obvious and included most doors closed off, a baby gate blocking the kitchen area, the deadbolt on the door locked, and every other window locked and shut – except the apparently makeshift-closed one the boy was seen hanging out of.
“Officers told the mother to return to Killeen,” the police department said.
That request was allegedly not obliged. Myers was arrested on Nov. 5 by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.
Arrest records in the Golden State say the defendant was taken into custody somewhere on the expansive Fort Irwin Army Base – which is roughly 1,365 miles away from Killeen.
Myers was released from custody in California on Tuesday and arrested by the Killeen Police Department that same day.
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