HOUSTON – A mother is charged with leaving a 2-year-old child locked in a storage closet at her mother-in law's apartment so she could go out and party.
The mother-in-law, Maria Carmen Uribe, said the child was locked in the closet on their porch late at night while she and her husband were sleeping inside their apartment. She said that when nobody answered their door, her daughter-in-law, Barbara Cartwright, just left her grandchild to fend for herself.
Uribe said she's livid about the incident.
She said her grandchild was stuck inside for about an hour until she heard her cries for help and opened the door.
When she found the 2-year-old, she said the girl was freezing and she said it was because her daughter-in-law wanted to go out drinking and didn't have anywhere else to take her child.
The child is now living with Uribe while Cartwright remains in the Harris County Jail.
Cartwright appeared in court Friday afternoon. Uribe said that she hopes she stays in jail.
Cartwright is charged with endangering a child and abandoning a child with intent to return. She is being held on $2,000 bond. Her next court date is set for Feb. 10.