Mom left kids, 6 and 8, home alone while she went on cruise: authorities

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Texas mom is accused of leaving her young children home alone for nearly a week while she went on a cruise.

Harris County court records show that deputies were called to a luxury high-rise apartment complex in Houston on April 9 after neighbors reported that a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old had been left alone inside one of the units.

Neighbors told deputies that they saw the children's mother, Lakesha Woods Williams, leaving the apartment complex with luggage around noon on April 4 and never saw her return.

When deputies entered the apartment, they found the two kids alone, according to court records. They said the unit was in "complete disarray and had trash and left-over food all over." Deputies also said the apartment had a "very potent smell of urine."

The children told deputies that their mother left them on April 4 to go on vacation on a cruise, and they did not know when she would return.

Investigators said Woods Williams was using a camera to watch and talk to her kids while she was away. One of the children had a phone to text her.

The children were removed from the home and placed in the care of a relative.

"We are still putting together the facts and circumstances of how these children were left alone for several days, but the important thing is they are safe now and those responsible should be held accountable for leaving these kids in an unsafe situation," Constable Ted Heap said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The sheriff's office tried to contact Woods Williams, but she "was not cooperating and was switching up her story on her whereabouts," court records stated.

Deputies said Woods Williams returned to the apartment on April 10 and was arrested the next day. She was charged with child endangerment.