Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari police jailed a local woman after she was accused of letting a toddler in her care wander away from his home and down a street by himself twice during 100-degree weather.
Michaela Brownfield, 26, of Tucumcari, was charged July 19 with abuse of a child – negligently caused (no death or great bodily harm) after being booked into Quay County Detention Center the previous day. That charge is a third-degree felony that can lead up to three years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
According to a complaint filed by Tucumcari Police patrolman Ryan Vaughn, officers were sent to the 1100 block of South Second Street about 3:45 p.m. July 18 to check a report of a toddler by himself.
Vaughn stated he found another woman holding the 2-year-old boy in a front yard he recognized as the same toddler found unsupervised in a street median on the afternoon of July 17. The officer said the child was wearing only a shirt, diaper and socks.
During both days, outdoor temperatures were near or over 100 degrees.
Vaughn wrote he went to Brownfield’s home and found the doorway of the residence “covered with trash bags and flies. … When I knocked on the wooden door the entire door fell back.”
When Brownfield answered, Vaughn asked whether she knew where the toddler was. Brownfield said she didn’t, as she had just awakened. She said she had worked from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and went to sleep when she got home, woke up about noon, stayed with the boy for two hours and went back to sleep.
Vaughn stated in his complaint Brownfield didn’t know where the toddler was on both days after he wandered away from the home.
“The defendant knew or should have known of the danger involved and acted with reckless disregard for the child’s safety or health,” he wrote.
Acting Police Chief Pete Rivera said custody of the toddler was turned over to the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. He said the child appeared to be healthy, with no signs of malnutrition or injuries.
Brownfield made her first court appearance Wednesday in front of Magistrate Judge Noreen Hendrickson, who found probable cause and bound over the case.
Hendrickson set release conditions of a $5,000 unsecured appearance bond. Brownfield also is be forbidden from consuming alcohol, cannabis or illegal drugs, must avoid all contact with the child, must submit to drug and alcohol testing and must clear up another arrest warrant.
She was released from jail Wednesday afternoon.
Brownfield was ruled financially indigent, and she was assigned Brett Phelps of Las Vegas as her public defender.
Another court appearance on the case was set for Aug. 18.
