Texas Mother Arrested After Two Toddlers Are Found Alone Near an Intersection

On October 16, officers responded to reports about two young children who had been left alone on the street. This happened in Laredo, Texas, and the street itself was out in the open with no adult supervisor seemingly in sight. According to reports, the children were playing, but they were only 1- and 2-year-old children who clearly couldn’t take care of themselves.

While the reports don’t say how close the children were to oncoming traffic or who first spotted them, reports of the children being on the street alone despite their young ages were enough for the police to get involved. The leading problem was that the children weren’t able to identify themselves or give information about any supervising figure.

The area was near Lyon Street and Meadow Avenue, which gave the officers a general area that they could search. They eventually identified the children’s mother as 39-year-old Estella Valderrabano-Barrera. When asked about the children, she reportedly stated that she didn’t know the children had gone outside. Although it’s unknown whether she intentionally left the toddlers unsupervised, they did somehow get out of the home.

Child Protective Services was notified about Barrera, leading to her ultimately being arrested. She was booked into Webb County Jail and charged with abandoning or endangering a child in imminent danger of bodily injury, a second-degree felony. According to reports, she remained in custody as of Friday, October 16. However, it’s unknown whether she was offered any bail amount.

The police didn’t immediately release additional information about this case. This undisclosed information includes how long the children had been outside, whether they suffered any injuries, and who currently has custody of them. The case itself is still reportedly under investigation, but commenters have several questions regarding it. The most common question is how a 1-and 2-year-old child were able to go outside of their home without anyone noticing.