A Texas mom who is accused of abandoning her children at a fire station says that was never her intention and that the allegations against her are “made up,” WSBTV reports.
Jasmine Jones, 22, the mother in question, reportedly dropped off her boys, ages 9 months and 3 years, at Houston Fire Station 73 Monday. Officials say that she said she was leaving the children there because their father wasn’t helping to care for them. Firefighters said a man was heard shouting at Jones but did not come near the station. Assistant County Attorney Tiffany Reedy said that both parents were present when the children were reportedly surrendered.
Because the children are more than 60 days old, Texas’ “Baby Moses” law, which allows parents unable to care for their children to surrender them at a fire station, does not apply.
The boys are now in the custody of the state and will be placed in foster care, since there are no suitable close relatives, according to news station KPRC-TV.
Jones said that the children were sick and she was just trying to get help for them, not give them up.
“That’s all we were trying to do, help our kids out,” Jones told KPRC. “These allegations were made up.
“We were just trying to get them help with their asthma,” she said. “They’re kids, they’re babies, and they had an asthma attack.”
However, neither Jones nor the father of the children, identified as John Lee Smith, showed up at an emergency custody hearing in court Tuesday afternoon. A judge thus decided that the children would remain in state care.
Child Protective Services is also already on the case, investigating the family.
“Drug allegations were made. There were allegations of domestic violence between she and father of the children, as well as physical abuse of the children,” Reedy said, according to KPRC-TV.