HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A mother is charged with DWI and child abandonment after deputies said she left her 10-year-old daughter in a southeast Houston store.
Marlene Flores, 25, was detained by Pasadena police on Thursday.
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Earlier in the day, Harris County Precinct 6 deputy constables were called to check on a minor at the 5300 block of Telephone Road in southeast Houston.
The 10-year-old girl told deputies her mother had picked her up from school and was driving erratically, even hitting an unknown object outside a gas station.
So the girl contacted her stepfather, fearing for her safety. The stepfather told her to get out of the car when the mother stopped. The girl did and sought an adult for help, using her stepfather's advice.
When the stepfather arrived, he told deputies he got in contact with Flores' sister, who had picked up Flores but did not see the child around.
Flores' sister said the mother was staying at her mother's house in Pasadena, where Pasadena police said they found her. Police said Flores appeared to be intoxicated when she was detained.
HCSO Precinct 6 constables later took custody of Flores.