A Louisville mom has been sentenced for keeping her three kids in inhumane conditions. Suspicion arose when two of her kids did not show up at school. The two kids were found forced to stay outside without water, clean clothes, or electricity.
The third child was found malnourished and dehydrated. Betty Sue Snider lived with her three kids in the Home Park Drive residence. She often left her kids alone for days and forced them to stay in the yard in unlivable conditions.
Her kids were 10, 11, and 16 years old and were visibly injured, dirty, and hungry when the authorities found them on a welfare check. They were notified that the kids were not under any parental supervision. The mother was charged with three counts of minor abandonment and endangering minors, as reported by WLKY.
She was arrested last year in July and was detained at the state correctional facility. Snider chose an Alford plea for the charges, which is like a guilty plea that may result in conviction, but lets the defendant maintain an innocence claim.
Louisville mother sentence after 3 children found living alone in ‘inhumane conditions’ | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/ZjPLZilXDk
— WLKY (@WLKY) September 12, 2025
As per the court documents, the 16-year-old’s school authorities stepped in and notified about her absence and concerns about whether she was in possible danger and child neglect. All the kids were found to be forced to live outside at times, sleeping in tents, swings, and chairs that were left outside.
The first responders said that the kids “appeared dirty, hungry, and had visible injuries.”
Even the inside of the house was infested with bugs and had trash everywhere, so it wasn’t livable for the kids. Meanwhile, Snider argued she had not gone inside the home in months and knew that it was in “unlivable” conditions.
Snider also admitted she was absent from home for long periods. As per a neighbor, they’d hear the children fighting and screaming at 4 in the morning outside. The great-grandmother of the kids, Mary Buckhammer, explained that she filed several complaints about the kids being in unsafe conditions with the police as well as the CPS.
Mom made 3 kids sleep outside on chairs and swing, wouldn’t let them inside ‘unlivable’ home https://t.co/T1dGeos8gs
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) September 13, 2025
She lived on the same block, but Snider did not allow the kids to see her. She further added that kids did not take showers, ate only once when they could get food, and used the bathroom outside. Buckhammer had complained, “Mother’s gone several days at a time at night. They really need help. They need somebody to do something.”
Netizens are calling out the CPS for not reacting sooner when Mary filed several complaints. One user was sympathetic towards the kids and Betty, suffering from living crises, poverty, and homelessness, along with the kids’ responsibilities.
