Charges Dismissed Against Mother Was Arrested For Leaving Her Kids To Go To Work At Little Caesars

June 6, 2021.

A report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that nearly 2.3 million women in the United States have been forced to leave the workforce as a result of the current pandemic. For many, their reasons for being forced out of work have come as a result of closed schools and a lack of child care. The new statistics underline that Black women and Latinas have been hit particularly hard by the economic crisis with over 1 in 12 Black women ages 20 and over and almost 1 in 11 Latinas remaining unemployed this past January.

It’s no wonder that women and mothers are being forced to go to extremes to ensure their children have roofs over their heads and food to put in their mouths.

In February, one Ohio mother was arrested on charges of child endangerment after facing little options regarding child care.

Twenty-four-year-old Shaina Bell was arrested recently after police officers arrested her leaving her young children in a motel room while going to work at her job at Little Caesars.

According to WFMJ-TV, Liberty Township police wet to a local Motel Six after 6 p.m. on Feb. 11 and found two of Bell’s kids alone in a room. Bell’s 10-year-old told police at the time that the moter was at work and was meant to return by 10 p.m. Bell told officers that she had asked someone to check on her children every hour while she was away. 

Bell was charged with two counts of child endangerment. The charges count as a first-degree misdemeanor which carries a possible maximum sentence of six months in jail and fines of up to $1,000.

In response to the arrest, supporters put together a GoFund Me account with a $5,000 goal.

The page describes Shaina as a single mother to three young children.  “She works hard and she loves her family very much,” notes the page. “On Thursday February 11, 2021 Shaina was arrested at her job and taken to jail for leaving two of her children (ages 10 and 2) alone in their hotel room while she went to work. She was released the next day but found herself in the need of immediate housing.”

“This is a sad story. Arresting single parents in cases like this only furthers the goalpost for them,” one GoFundMe donor commented on the fundraiser page. “An arrest can mean a loss of job & income, court fees, time away from work and barriers for future employment. I hope this young lady is able to get on her feet and get housing for her and her children.”

In the days that followed the GoFundMe page brought in over $100,000 in donations.

Bell pled not guilty to the charges against her, according to Vice and she was released.

Recently it was revealed that the charges against Bell were dismissed.

After a pretrial hearing on May 26, a judge apologized to Bell and dismissed the child endangerment charges that had been brought against her. In addition to the dismissal, Bell has come into some surprising positivity. Users online rallied behind the mother after hearing about her ordeal and managed to wrangle in over $165,000 in donations to help her support her family.

In addition to receiving support from various unknown dogooders, Bell received thousands of dollars in support from NBA player JaVale McGee and Quality Control Music Label co-founder Pierre Thomas.

Speaking about his decision to help, Thomas explained “My mom used to have to do the same thing when we were young, not cause of abandonment issues, it’s because people can’t afford child care working at a pizza shop… She wasn’t hanging out at a club. She was at work.”