HOUSTON – A Houston mother is facing three serious charges after investigators said she abandoned her 8-year-old daughter at the Galleria to get away from police after allegedly shoplifting.
According to Houston police, it all started at the Solstice sunglasses store on Tuesday afternoon. Police said Haydee Ledesma Musatto was with her daughter when she stole a pair of sunglasses from the store.
Police said they later spotted the mom at the Disney Store around the corner and tried to arrest her. But that's when police said Musatto ran, leaving her daughter behind.
The 8-year-old tried to run after her mother, but police stopped her.
She gave them her mother's cell phone number and when officers called Musatto asking her to come back for the girl, police said she refused and instead told police the little girl's father would come for her.
The dad never showed up, police said, and when Musatto finally returned later that evening, her daughter had been handed over to Children's Protective Services.
Musatto, 46, is charged with theft, evading arrest and abandoning a child. She has since bonded out of jail, but her daughter remains in foster care.
Musatto is due in court on Monday.