Guests of the American Inn of Bethesda in Maryland thought something was strange Sunday when they began hearing the wails, screams and crying of a baby around 9:30 p.m. They contacted the hotel's front desk, which went to the room to investigate. When staffers' knocks went unanswered, they opened the door and found a 1-year-old girl in the room alone.
According to ABC 7, "The guest service manager took the child to the front office where she called police and Child Protective Services." Officers arrived and searched the hotel room. Around 11:30 a.m., the child's mother, Tashawna Myles, 24, returned to the hotel and told the officers that she had just left the child, who was sleeping, for a few minutes while she went to nearby Flanagan's Harp & Fiddle Irish pub and had a few drinks.
Police report that Myles tested nearly three times above the legal drinking limit, and she was arrested and charged with "neglect of a minor, desertion of a minor and confining an unattended child," WJLA reports. The news station reached out to the mother, who reportedly admitted that she suffers from alcoholism and was deeply ashamed by her actions.
She added that she is currently "enrolled in an eight-month substance-abuse program. Upon completion of the class, she hopes to regain full custody of her baby," who was taken by Child Protective Services, according to the report.
If Myles is found guilty on all three counts, she could face up to eight years in prison.
Read more at ABC 7.