Dallas Mother Leaves Children Home Alone for Hours, Returns with Bottle of Tequila

*A southeast Dallas woman who left her two young children home alone for hours was arrested over the weekend and charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child with intent to return. 

Police say Rodneika Hornage, 25, wanted to celebrate her birthday by shopping without her two kids in tow, so she left them at home alone, only to show up hours later carrying a couple of dresses and a bottle of tequila.

A neighbor alerted police Saturday afternoon that the children were alone inside the apartment, including one with special needs. The mother had been gone for several hours, the concerned neighbor said, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit, dallasnews.com reports.

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Firefighters had to force the door open, where officers found a boy and a girl in a bedroom watching TV. The girl was in a standing wheelchair and connected to a feeding tube, the report states. The home lacked a phone and no other way to contact 911 if the girl had a medical emergency, police noted in the affidavit.

The boy explained to officers that he didn’t answer the door when they knocked because he was told not to open the door for anyone, “no matter who it was,” according to the affidavit.

Horange returned home about a half an hour after police arrived, and she gave various tales about where she had been and how long she was away. Police say she left the children alone for about three hours. Items in her shopping bag included a Starbucks iced coffee, two dresses and a half-full bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila. 

Police took her into custody, and the children were placed in the care of a relative, the report states. 

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