LUBBOCK, Texas — Lubbock Police arrested Priscilla Baltazar, 28, of Lubbock on Tuesday morning and charged her with abandonment of a child – a state jail felony. Police also arrested Michael Anthony Espinoza, 28, on the same charge.
Officers were called to the 2800 block of 42nd Street at about 9:15 a.m. for the report of an abandoned child. An officer found a little girl alone out on the sidewalk.
A police report said, “I observed [the child] to be wearing a soaked diaper with urine and a t-shirt with no shoes.”
The officer took the child to a specific house and knocked on the door. There were four more children inside with no adult, according to the police report. One of the children let the officer inside.
“I began following [a child] to [another child’s] bedroom and observed miscellaneous trash, clothing, and animal feces scattered throughout the home,” the police report said.
One of the children thought mom might still be at work. When police found Baltazar by cell phone, she did not disclose her location. When she arrived back home, she told police she had been shopping for groceries along with Espinoza.
Espinoza arrived back to the house after that, according to the police report. Another family member showed up and told police that the kids have been left alone on multiple occasions.
A representative of Children’s Protective Services was also called to the scene before Baltazar and Espinoza were arrested.
Espinoza was able to post bond to get out of jail on Thursday afternoon. Baltazar was still held in the Lubbock County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond as of Thursday afternoon.