Background: News footage showing the area where a 2-year-old girl was discovered wandering the street alone (WOAI). Insets (left to right): Benito Lopez and Alexandrea Prewett (Bexar County Sheriff”s Office).
A 2-year-old girl was found roaming her Texas neighborhood alone and wearing nothing but a dirty diaper, and now her parents face felony charges.
Alexandrea Prewett, aged 33, and Benito Lopez, aged 35, were taken into custody on Sunday by Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies. This occurred after neighbors alerted authorities that the couple’s young child was “running near a busy street before entering a nearby house.” Police found the toddler seated on the sidewalk, describing her as “extremely dirty, unkempt, and wearing a heavily soiled diaper.”
But when police entered the home where she lived with her parents, they allegedly found an even worse sight.
Deputies from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office entered the residence on Eutrophic Circle and reported finding conditions that were “filthy and hoarded.” Prewett was present and confirmed that she was the child’s mother. She was taken into custody while deputies contacted Lopez, who returned to the house and was also detained.
Local NBC affiliate WOAI reported that while the 2-year-old was by herself outside, the temperature was more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prewett and Lopez were charged with child endangerment and booked into the Bexar County Jail. They were released on bond the same day. According to local ABC affiliate KSAT, the toddler was taken to the hospital for examination by first responders, and Child Protective Services was contacted. According to a police Facebook post, she was unharmed.
It is not clear who has custody of the girl now.
