Shanesha Taylor, Homeless Single Mom, Arrested After Leaving Kids In Car While On Job Interview

[Beacool]

by Andres Jauregui
3/28/14

A homeless single mother in Arizona who struggled to make ends meet is in jail after she allegedly left her children in her car while she went on a job interview.

Shanesha Taylor was arrested on felony child abuse charges after Scottsdale police discovered her two kids, aged 2 years old and 6 months old, in a locked car.

Scottsdale police responded after a witness reported a child crying from inside a Dodge Durango parked at an office complex on March 20. Police said that two children were left along in the car with the engine off and the windows slightly cracked. The car was left parked in the sun and all the doors were closed.

AZFamily reports that the kids had already been in the car for 30 minutes when police arrived. Police said 35-year-old Taylor returned from her job interview about 45 minutes after officers came to the scene. She said she didn't have anyone else to care for the kids while she was on an interview at an insurance company.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/28/shanesha-taylor-homeless-mom-arrested_n_5050356.html

This is a sad story all around. I hope that she doesn't lose custody of her children. The one good thing is that someone started an online fundraising drive to help with her legal expenses and they had already raised $27,000.

[JimDandy]

1. I wish I knew her and others in that position.

I would offer to babysit for free.

[Beacool]

2. I feel terrible for this woman.

She's homeless and probably couldn't find anyone to watch her kids. So she must have figured that, since it was only an interview, that she wouldn't be gone too long. Unfortunately, someone reported seeing the children and she was arrested. There went the job prospects and even maybe her children too. I'm hoping that since there are now people aware of her situation, that someone helps her to find a job and a place to live. That would probably be a prerequisite to get her kids back.

[questionseverything]

17. every city in the US has huge numbers of unemployed

and tons of empty building that could easily be converted to "emergency day care"

since Clinton changed welfare every1 receiving benefits has to volunteer if they do not have a paying job

we have everything we need to fix this except the political will

[Beacool]

19. Yes, that would be a solution.

BTW, I have no problem with people having to volunteer to get benefits. In some cases, it may even train them to have a skill that could be useful to gain employment.

[questionseverything]

34. i see two sides to the forced volenteer thing

it can give experience that may lead to a real job as you said

it can provide a feeling of self worth that can lead to positive things

on the negative side

in Illinois for a $357. benefit they have to volunteer 120 hours a month...less than 3 bucks an hour seems like slave labor

too many of the "approved" places to volunteer are very right wing religious centers where the clients are literally forced into praying several times a day...conditions of help should not depend on accepting another's religious views (in my opinion)

but staffing a crisis nursery with volunteers to help poor mothers in this kind of situation would be a noble goal

[Beacool]

39. In NJ, they put them to work in parks

and other publicly owned places.

[Lancero]

3. Sad that she found herself in these circumstances...

But locked in a car for a half-hour, and didn't show up until that and half later?

I'm sure she had good intentions, but I fail to see how anyone could think locking two small children in a car for a hour and fifteen minutes is a good idea. The only good thing is that it isn't summer yet, but even then parked right in the sun at this time of year can still prove fatal if left for a while. Not to mention the chance of someone with less then good intentions seeing them.

Road to hell's paved with good intentions.

[Beacool]

4. Desperate people do desperate things.

I've heard of stories of mother's leaving the kids in cars their whole shift at work and coming out to check on them because they had no one to leave the kids with and not going to work was not an option.

This woman did something stupid out of need. I just hope that she doesn't lose custody of her children.

[totodeinhere]

9. I agree. She shouldn't have left those kids in her car. But she did it out

of desperation trying to find a job so she could support those same kids. Some people just don't understand how difficult it is to be homeless.

[justhanginon]

16. That is sad in many ways.

It is hard if not impossible for most of us to feel the level of hopelessness that must accompany people in these circumstances. Homelessness transcends being poor. It means you have virtually nothing left and nowhere to go. We have all probably experienced dire or near dire situations but few have had homelessness thrust on them and I wonder what we would do..
I also wonder where the hell the father is and if he can be located and made to accept some of his responsibilities to those children.

[totodeinhere]

18. Sadly being homeless she would have less access to resources that would allow her to

search for the father if she doesn't know his whereabouts. It's a vicious cycle.

[Beacool]

20. Exactly!!

[TheKentuckian]

5. The car is all the home they have and with that comes a reality of few resources

and support systems from society all the way down to the family and individual level.

Doesn't she have to find some way for her and her kids to get out of that car before summer and as soon as possible? If she has a lead on a job doesn't she have to pursue it?

There were no "good" choices to make, the least bad was to take a chance that might give them a shot at a home or at least keep gas in car and food in their bellies.

What choices should she have made with the had dealt?

The fact that we have homeless population is a societal failure and a pretty deep on but rather than face that we always try to find ways to punish the victims complete with lectures from folks that are used to the menu with not only a good option but often a plethora of them.

You ever been reduced to living in the car? It means you've got few options. Shit, the folks just out there think the car people are living the life of Riley, if you don't get out of that car and go in somewhere everyday eventually you will probably find out why because you will eventually lose the car.

[Beacool]

24. I saw a documentary some years ago about homeless women.

These are women that had been functioning in society, but unexpected circumstances led them to be homeless. One lived in a rented U-Haul truck. One middle aged lady tried to park in a cemetery at night because she felt safer. There were other women's stories too. The sad thing is at the end of the film they told you what happened to these women, and I think it was the one who lived in the rented U-Haul, committed suicide. She couldn't cope anymore with her situation.

[TheKentuckian]

49. A national sin, Bea. This is a symptom of who we are structurally

Feeding that murders us all in many cruel ways, casting these people aside and then criminalizing them to shift the blame not the least of the growing daily impacts.

Huge numbers of our homeless are the veterans we prattle on about endlessly and then cut their services. We have now millions of homeless children, many without the relative safety of a car. I think many, including some who call themselves liberal would rather see an end to all life on Earth than to actually do anything that possibly would largely end such outcomes.

[Beacool]

70. Yes, many of the homeless are veterans.

It's a disgrace. I remember reading that in the 80s a homeless veteran died of exposure in Lafayette Park, right by the WH. How sad......

Death in the Cities

The press played its part in publicizing the homeless crisis, often focusing on the tragic suffering of street people during the winter months. It was pointed out that on the morning Ronald Reagan delivered his second inaugural address -- indoors under the Capitol dome due to inclement winter weather -- a homeless man was found frozen to death in a derelict house just a few miles away. (Inaugural party goers and caterers donated leftovers to Washington homeless shelters; Waiters in tuxedos from Ridgewell's catering service supplied 1,000 homeless with hams, shrimp, quiche and crab claws.) Three years earlier, a decorated World War II veteran died of exposure on a bench in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. In Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other cities, police removed the homeless from the streets when temperatures plummeted to a dangerous level. But when Mayor Koch of New York City -- where nearly 30 displaced persons had perished over the course of several winters -- implemented a similar plan, the New York Civil Liberties Union denounced it as an unconstitutional restraint on personal freedom.

http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id343.htm

[Ed Suspicious]

11. I would have done the exact same thing. I will shamelessly admit that given

her circumstances and her options, I would have had my kids sit in the car until I was done with the interview. Full stop.

[Beacool]

21. I thought the same thing.

What would I have done? Probably what she did.

[Lancero]

35. And if it was summer?

[Ed Suspicious]

36. Was it? I don't know. I would make my best judgement at that time. If it were a cool summer

morning I suppose I would. If it were hot I wouldn't risk my kid's lives. I'm a pretty sensible person, Lancero. I would weigh the risks just like everyone else would.

[Lancero]

48. So you'd think...

That the risks of leaving children in a car for a hour and 15 minutes are negligible? Even in good weather?

Even in good weather, doing such is risking a child's life.

[TroglodyteScholar]

52. Failure to provide food and shelter risks a child's life, too

Of course I hate all the stories in the national news that depict children being neglected by selfish parents. But this is clearly not one of those cases. It's just sad for everyone involved.

[Ed Suspicious]

59. I have sat in a parked car for 15 minutes. I lived to tell the tale.

I suppose my good fortune was the result of a confluence of nonlethal factors such as moderate ambient temperatures, cracked window, cool breeze, shade, and a grip on reality allowing for normal heart rate and low levels of stress hormone coursing through my veins allowing the imminent myocardial eruption to be held at bay.

Why you coming at me bro? I'm aware of the potential danger.

In my world, I'm fortunate to not have to make the decision as my kids, despite all odds, have made it to their teenage years and are strong enough in body and will to crack the door should they need some fresh air.

The point is, fortunately, time spent in a parked car is not necessarily in all cases a direct cause of death.

I think we can comfortably stop short of painting the lady as some reckless homicidal maniac and acknowledge she was simply doing the best she could with the tools she had.

[LisaL]

74. I think it's a fair guess that you are not an infant.

[Ed Suspicious]

75. Are you suggesting I owe my life to my advanced age? In my experience, the young are those

gifted with resilience.

[LisaL]

76. If you overheat you can get out of the car.

An infant can not do that.

[Ed Suspicious]

77. It's a good thing infant and I both survived the risk.

I take your point. I'm having a hard time with the sanctimony.

[TorchTheWitch]

50. I would have brought them to the interview

And apologized profusely for having to do so but explained if I didn't I'd have to leave them in a car unattended. It happens that people even in good living circumstances have something last minute come up where they need to take their kid or kids to a job interview, and I've never known it to be an issue. Several times I've worked in places where staff had to babysit a kid or two while their parent was in an interview, and everyone in the office loved the novelty of having the unexpected diversion of having a kid or two to entertain though truth be told it was the staff being entertained by the kid(s). All in all I think the interviewer is more impressed with the good parenting in that the interviewee wasn't willing to put their child in a dangerous situation letting an interview take precedence over the welfare of their child. Shows an ability to prioritize what is most important. Frankly, I wouldn't want to hire anyone that was willing to let their young kids remain in the car unattended so they could go to a job interview - to me that shows gross irresponsibility and an inability to prioritize what is most important.

[yeoman6987]

58. I interview people from time to time

Typically everyone is really flexible. If this woman would have called and said, "I am sorry but I cannot come at the allotted time, can we change it to another time?" Perhaps that would have alleviated her situation and lack of a babysitter.

[TheKentuckian]

66. Maybe, it is my observation that more likely even if she were allowed to interview she'd be destined

for File 13 due to the fact that she cannot even arrange child care for a brief interview then it is unlikely she'll be able to make the job first priority and may be a problem moving forward.

Companies are fairly ruthless, not all but a great many. It is cut throat out here and the lower down the rungs you are the more so it is that way. The understanding one gets in one environment is very much absent in others because the employees aren't actually valued, applicants are a dime a dozen.

[TorchTheWitch]

67. and none of that is a valid reason to leave your kids in the car

There's no question that this woman was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just being homeless is about as stuck between a rock and a hard place as one can get. Regardless, it doesn't justify leaving the kids in the car while you attend a job interview. As I said, the best thing she could have done was to bring the kids into the building with her, apologize for the circumstances and make the best of it. The employer would be more apt to hire her had she done that than learning she'd left her kids in the car.

I'm well aware of how cut throat it is looking for a job. I'm flat broke and have been looking for a job unsuccessfully for longer than I care to admit. It doesn't mean you get a pass in endangering your children in order to go to a job interview especially when doing so means jail, a huge fine you can't hope to pay and a record that will follow you everywhere as well as the very real possibility of losing custody of your children.

Like I said, I would be more apt to hire someone that acted responsibly in a difficult situation, and I'd never hire someone that was so horribly irresponsible as to leave their children in the car to attend an interview.

[peace13]

79. You may want to look up your local homeless shelter or battered women's home....

...and volunteer to watch some children. Helping one another is the only answer. Deciding for others from a perfect world looking glass won't cut it here in America!

[exboyfil]

6. These stories never mention the father

Where is he? The journalists at least should ask the question. He is equally responsible for the welfare of the children and equally culpable in the desperate situation faced by this woman.

[kcr]

7. Totally agree. And to think

We have people whining about child support and calling for the ability for men to be able to claim no responsibility because women can just have abortions if they want to. What a great idea that would be, as we can see. Even more cases like this.

[Beacool]

25. Who knows?

That's a huge part of the problem. Far too many fathers just inseminate the women and then take a hike.

[Helen Borg]

8. I would pay for her babysitter...

[IronLionZion]

10. Are there any charities that offer free babysitting services to folks like this

or nonprofit day care for low-income workers? I'd like to support such organizations if they exist.

[cyberswede]

12. There definitely should be. nt

[Horse with no Name]

44. The sad thing is

in Arizona...they have shredded the social safety net worse than in most states.

A friend told me that if you aren't already in the system...they aren't taking new people.

[azurnoir]

13. all this outrage over her leaving her kids in the car but none for the fact that they LIVE in

that very same car, something is very wrong here

Too bad the $27,000 couldn't be used to help her find a place to live

[Beacool]

26. I'm hoping that it will, since it says that her legal bills should be around $9,000.

I'm hoping that someone in her area helps her to get a job and a place to live. That way she can get her kids back.

[azurnoir]

28. Her kids should not have been taken in the first place they were after all left at home

or what was home for them at the time

but I'm glad that there will be money left over and hopefully it cn be used for something positive like housing for this family so they do not face this again

[Beacool]

31. I get the feeling that now that her situation has become public, that she'll receive help.

She will probably receive more than $27,000 by the time the fundraising efforts are over.

[Live and Learn]

53. +1 nt

[LarryNM]

15. Lack of Money is Punished with Zero Tolerance n/t

[Skittles]

22. hideously bad judgement but

I hope she is shown some compassion and receives the help she so desperately needs......she surely is not the only culprit here

[TheKentuckian]

40. Oh yeah? What should she have done then?

[JesterCS]

69. Call a friend, parent, etc? n/t

[TheKentuckian]

71. SHE AND HER CHILDREN LIVE IN A CAR

That means help is already very thin, at the very best.

The response means that you aren't really trying to get into those shoes.

[Live and Learn]

54. Is it really that easy to judge? nt

[99Forever]

23. We are quickly becoming a society with...

... neither a heart or a soul. This is a direct result of unfettered capitalism, in all of it's supreme glory.

[Beacool]

27. Indeed, we are.

Remember the story of the cop who gave a woman a summons because she fished less than $2 from a fountain to get something to eat?

Who would have thought these stories would be so common in one of the wealthiest nations in the world?

[99Forever]

33. I, at times wonder if I didn't step into an alternate reality.

This nation's loss of it's humanity is the legacy that we leave behind.

It didn't have to be like this.

[Beacool]

37. I think that people are on information overload.

We can't disconnect, so we find out every little tragedy everywhere. After a while, people become desensitized to human tragedy.

[TheKentuckian]

42. They quickly recover empathy and sensitivity if somebody says something they don't like about their

millionaire politician.

[Live and Learn]

55. +1 nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

29. Moms that don't live near family (their moms, grandparents, cousins, etc.) have a really hard time

Those that live near family have it easier.

[TheKentuckian]

43. Moms on the streets or trying to live out of a car are in a world of shit whatever the location of

their relations.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

46. Yup. And most anyone can end up homeless. Being in a country that has few social programs...

and in which family is so distant, is a huge problem.

[LisaL]

73. Well she does.

One of the things she told police is that she's lived with her mother for the last year.

"It's unclear precisely what her circumstances are, as Taylor is declining interviews. She told police she was often homeless and that they'd stayed the previous night in a Wal-Mart parking lot, yet she also told them she's lived with her mother for the last year. She told police she's unemployed yet court documents indicate she worked part-time as an office aide for a medical house call service."
http://www.azcentral.com/story/laurie-roberts/2014/04/11/shanesha-taylor-arizona-child-abuse/7565687/

[Sarah Ibarruri]

81. Poverty (which leaves a person no spare time or resources) might contribute to this too I suppose.

I suppose I always judge everything by my own Latin-Spain families, and there's lots of family support there. Different cultures, though. Shouldn't compare at all with the U.S. culture.

[elleng]

30. 'How noble the law, in its majestic equality,

that both the rich and poor are equally prohibited from sleeping under bridges.' Anatole France

[Ed Suspicious]

61. Perfect!

[LittleBlue]

32. Very sad. But you just can't do that

With a teenager, okay. Not with a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old. They can die.

Also, like others have said, it's a shame the government doesn't provide some kind of temporary babysitter to homeless people looking for work. Hopefully the judge takes mercy on her and can find some kind of arrangement with a charity.

[Beacool]

38. Yes, something could have happened to them.

It just shows the level of desperation, she risked it all in the hopes of getting a job.

Sad.........

[TheKentuckian]

41. What should she have done, hung with the car until it was out of gas or impounded and

begin a path to a life truly on the street for her children?

And guess what? The same motherfuckers slamming this woman now would be saying they would have done ANYTHING to make sure they went to that job interview if wind was caught of it being missed.

Pull your self up by your bootstraps but remember no bootstraps allowed!

Democrats are becoming as heartless and clueless as the dumpster fires across the aisle. No, wonder our leadership is fucked up, it is coming from the roots up and then top back down in a cascade of callous failure and slicing our own throats dressed up as phony pragmatism.

[Fumesucker]

45. Bootstraps steeped overnight in poverty juice make an amazingly nutritious and tasty broth n/t

[Ed Suspicious]

62. You're blessed and cursed empathy. I love your posts in this thread.

[TheKentuckian]

64. I've had a taste of it, I can't wrap my head around the clawing, desperation of having kids

Just the trepidation factor alone has to push the bounds of holding one's mind together and the hopelessness. Damn, how it must gnaw at a person.

What goes through the minds of the children, I fear to even imagine. They are so sensitive, if the parent is hanging on by their fingernails then the odds are they pick up on that and are vexed. The other kids can be so cruel too, it was hard being just poor.

[stevenleser]

47. If I was on the jury, she wouldn't be convicted of anything. nt

[kelliekat44]

51. Yeah, these people want a hand out from the government so badly they leave their kids

in a car alone while they desperately look for the next welfare check.

Just another reason to dislike the GOP.

[treestar]

65. That struck me too

She was looking for a job. Every right winger in the world ought to defend her for that.

[Live and Learn]

56. High temp on that day was only 83 degrees F.

Article doesn't state the time but even at the high the kids weren't likely in any danger.

[tammywammy]

57. The temp inside the car was 100 degrees.

According to court documents, the temperature outside was about 82 degrees and the temperature inside the car exceeded 100 degrees.

It is estimated the children were in the vehicle for at least 30 minutes.

The 6-month-old was wearing two T-shirts, one of which had long sleeves, and was covered with a blanket, according to court paperwork. He was crying hysterically.

Police said all four windows of the SUV had been rolled down about 1 inch.

Court documents say that officers entered the car through the unlocked driver's door and found the keys in the ignition. The engine was not running but the blower motor was pumping hot air into the SUV.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Police-Mother-left-infant-toddler-in-hot-car-during-job-interview-251571521.html

Thankfully, the children weren't hurt, but if someone hadn't called police it could have been a lot worse.

[dembotoz]

60. i know a couple of women who have no local family support system

the kids are older now and situation not as dire

extended family just doesn't exist for a lot of folks.

just doesn't.


one of them knows that i have her back no matter what.

we worry more about stray cats and dogs than stray humans
and that is just



wrong

[LisaL]

72. She has an extended family.

One of the things she told police is that she's lived with her mother during the last year.

[Liberal_in_LA]

63. sad story

[Number23]

68. Oh God, this is so heartbreaking

I wonder if she got the job?

[LisaL]

78. What do you think?

Seriously?

[Number23]

80. 13 days late and all you've got to contribute to this thread is a bunch of needless nasty?

Seriously?