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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:28 amNice going "Shanell"...burn in hell!
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Shanell Monique Mosley, 33, is charged with child endangerment and child abandonment, according to court records. She was scheduled to appear in Harris County's 248th District Court Wednesday.
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Jan. 29, 2008, 1:06PM
Houston mom who left kids for Africa trip is now in jail
By KEVIN MORAN and BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
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A woman accused of leaving eight children in a roach-infested northwest Harris County home while she traveled to Africa to marry an Internet acquaintance was arrested getting off a plane at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Shanell Monique Mosley, 33, who is charged with child endangerment and child abandonment for leaving children in squalid conditions, arrived on an Air France jet Monday afternoon, Harris County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. David Crain said today. Sheriff's deputies, immigration officers and Houston airport police met Mosley at the arrival gate, Crain said.
Mosley remained in the Harris County Jail this morning.
Mosley traveled to Nigeria to marry a man she met on the Internet, officials said after they discovered her children alone in the home in early January.
Crain declined to reveal how the sheriff's warrant division learned Mosley was on the flight, which came from Paris non-stop to Houston and was scheduled to arrive at 2:22 p.m. Monday, Crain said.
When she left for Nigeria on Dec. 31, Mosley told her 15-year-old daughter that she would return in a month to the home in the 11000 block of Barker Grove Lane, child welfare officials said.
Days after the woman left, officials said they knew little about Mosley.
Today, assistant Harris County District Attorney John Jordan said investigators have since learned that Mosley's six children were on starvation diets and her older children could not even tell authorities their own birth dates.
Mosley's six children are ages 1, 7,8,9, 15 and 16, Jordan said. The other two children found in the home were 3- and 4-year-old children for whom the family babysat on behalf of a single father who worked, Jordan said.
The 9-year-old brother told authorities he and the baby ate a still-frozen pizza for breakfast the morning they were discovered home alone.
"The 1-year-old was so malnourished, they could feel his ribs when they picked him up," Jordan said.
The roaches were only one sign of the squalid conditions in which the children lived, Jordan said.
There were no diapers, baby food or formula for the 1-year-old, no sheets on beds and fruit was rotting in a basket, he said.
Jordan said police went to a fast-food restaurant and bought the children food.
He said the 16-year-old girl didn't live with the family but was at the house when police investigated.
Mosley is being held without bond, Jordan said. She is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, when an attorney will likely be appointed to represent her.
The family is from New Orleans, but came to Texas originally Port Arthur after Hurricane Katrina.
The children are all in foster homes.
CPS officials said when they took custody of the children that they saw no evidence Mosley was employed.
"We don't know how she was able to make payments on the home or if she has assistance," CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin said earlier this month.
Mosley's sister was supposed to have arrived in Houston from New Orleans to care for the children during her absence, but officials said that never happened.
"We did talk to the (children's) aunt. She just didn't have the money to come here," Olguin said.
That left the children, including a 1-year-old boy, in the care of the overwhelmed 15-year-old, officials said.
"She was really the one who took on the parent role," Olguin said.
A neighbor who knew Mosley reported taking her to the airport when she left for Africa, officials said.
Authorities learned of the children's plight after the 15-year-old crashed the family's van into the home's garage on Dec. 31.
They found trash and other debris lay scattered around the house, which lacked telephone service, according to the original criminal complaint against Mosley.
Her "closet and dresser were cleared of every single item as if she had no intent to return," the criminal complaint said.
Mosley left a Lone Star food card, but officials said it couldn't be redeemed because it had no monetary balance.
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Shanell Monique Mosley, 33, is charged with child endangerment and child abandonment, according to court records. She was scheduled to appear in Harris County's 248th District Court Wednesday.
HCSO
photos
Jan. 29, 2008, 1:06PM
Houston mom who left kids for Africa trip is now in jail
By KEVIN MORAN and BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
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Get section feed
Subscribe NOW
Comments (223)
Recommend (8)
A woman accused of leaving eight children in a roach-infested northwest Harris County home while she traveled to Africa to marry an Internet acquaintance was arrested getting off a plane at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Shanell Monique Mosley, 33, who is charged with child endangerment and child abandonment for leaving children in squalid conditions, arrived on an Air France jet Monday afternoon, Harris County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. David Crain said today. Sheriff's deputies, immigration officers and Houston airport police met Mosley at the arrival gate, Crain said.
Mosley remained in the Harris County Jail this morning.
Mosley traveled to Nigeria to marry a man she met on the Internet, officials said after they discovered her children alone in the home in early January.
Crain declined to reveal how the sheriff's warrant division learned Mosley was on the flight, which came from Paris non-stop to Houston and was scheduled to arrive at 2:22 p.m. Monday, Crain said.
When she left for Nigeria on Dec. 31, Mosley told her 15-year-old daughter that she would return in a month to the home in the 11000 block of Barker Grove Lane, child welfare officials said.
Days after the woman left, officials said they knew little about Mosley.
Today, assistant Harris County District Attorney John Jordan said investigators have since learned that Mosley's six children were on starvation diets and her older children could not even tell authorities their own birth dates.
Mosley's six children are ages 1, 7,8,9, 15 and 16, Jordan said. The other two children found in the home were 3- and 4-year-old children for whom the family babysat on behalf of a single father who worked, Jordan said.
The 9-year-old brother told authorities he and the baby ate a still-frozen pizza for breakfast the morning they were discovered home alone.
"The 1-year-old was so malnourished, they could feel his ribs when they picked him up," Jordan said.
The roaches were only one sign of the squalid conditions in which the children lived, Jordan said.
There were no diapers, baby food or formula for the 1-year-old, no sheets on beds and fruit was rotting in a basket, he said.
Jordan said police went to a fast-food restaurant and bought the children food.
He said the 16-year-old girl didn't live with the family but was at the house when police investigated.
Mosley is being held without bond, Jordan said. She is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, when an attorney will likely be appointed to represent her.
The family is from New Orleans, but came to Texas originally Port Arthur after Hurricane Katrina.
The children are all in foster homes.
CPS officials said when they took custody of the children that they saw no evidence Mosley was employed.
"We don't know how she was able to make payments on the home or if she has assistance," CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin said earlier this month.
Mosley's sister was supposed to have arrived in Houston from New Orleans to care for the children during her absence, but officials said that never happened.
"We did talk to the (children's) aunt. She just didn't have the money to come here," Olguin said.
That left the children, including a 1-year-old boy, in the care of the overwhelmed 15-year-old, officials said.
"She was really the one who took on the parent role," Olguin said.
A neighbor who knew Mosley reported taking her to the airport when she left for Africa, officials said.
Authorities learned of the children's plight after the 15-year-old crashed the family's van into the home's garage on Dec. 31.
They found trash and other debris lay scattered around the house, which lacked telephone service, according to the original criminal complaint against Mosley.
Her "closet and dresser were cleared of every single item as if she had no intent to return," the criminal complaint said.
Mosley left a Lone Star food card, but officials said it couldn't be redeemed because it had no monetary balance.
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