SHELBY, NC -- Police said a Shelby mom left her six kids at home without running water while she went out to get drunk.
A police report stated the mother of 32-year-old Dawana Lee contacted officers about the welfare of her grandchildren. Angela Jarrett said she received a text from the oldest, telling her Lee had left them by themselves Monday night, according to police.
"And they don't have any water, anything. I need help!" Lee told the 911 dispatcher.
Officers said when they got there, five of the children were inside the home in the 2000 block of Green Oak Drive, and the sixth child was across the street.
Captain Steve Canipe said water to the home was cut off.
"The house was in disarray and pretty bad shape also," he said.
Lee came home after officers arrived on the scene. Investigators said she was intoxicated and had two open containers of alcohol as well as cocaine.
Capt. Canipe warned family, friends and neighbors to pay attention to the tell-tale signs of possible neglect.
"Children left alone. Children who show up in the yard unattended. Children who show up at other people's houses unattended. Children who ask for necessities from neighbors. Things like that is what they need to be looking for," he said.
Lee was booked into jail on DWI and drug charges. The children were given to their grandmother while social workers investigated their living conditions.
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