A woman was arrested and charged with child neglect or endangerment and interference with emergency calls after she abandoned her 15-year-old son on a Tennessee highway. 31-year-old mother Angel Harris pulled over on the highway at night and then took her son’s phone so he couldn’t call 911.
On Sunday, August 9, the mother and son were traveling south on Highway 51 in Millington, Tennessee. The two got into an argument about the company the 15-year-old was in. That’s when the mother stopped the vehicle and left him stranded on the roadside without a phone.
The affidavit reads, “His mother pulled over; he exited the vehicle, and his mother drove away southbound, leaving him on the roadside on US Highway 51.” When he tried to call 911, she took his phone away.
The teenager was left helpless on the road and did not have any friends or family in the Millington area. He decided to cross the major highway that has no crosswalk around 7:45 p.m. He went to the Patriot Box Sports Grill after crossing the highway “during nighttime and medium traffic.”
View this post on Instagram
He asked a stranger for a phone to call 911. Millington Police Department reached the grill after the emergency call. He told the officers he was not physically harmed but was emotionally distressed since he was stranded on the highway.
The officers could not find a missing person report filed for the child. He also told them that he usually lives with his grandmother. The officers called the boy’s grandmother, and she agreed to pick him up.
They also spoke to his mother, and she admitted to leaving him on the highway. She also said, “The police weren’t going to do anything anyway.” Police arrested her and charged her with two misdemeanors. She was released from the Shelby County Jail based on her own recognizance and is due in court on September 17.
The news went viral on social media, with one post gaining over 2K comments with different opinions on the case. An Instagram user commented, “It’s one thing to be frustrated with your teenage son. It’s another thing to jeopardize his safety.”
Another one posted, “The side of the highway is absolutely insane. Idc what he did. This journey is one that she chose.” Many people came to defend the mother, as one wrote, “Gurl, I have a 15 yr old, I don’t agree with what she did, but I UNDERSTAND!”
One more suggested he should have called his friends. Another netizen posted, “So you jump out of the car on the highway to call the cops on your mom cause she doesn’t like your friends? Then you wanted her to negotiate with you to get back in the car?”
One person added, “He wanted to be grown; he called the police on purpose. He couldn’t just call his grandmother.” “She ain’t right but she ain’t wrong either. I hope they can heal and things get better. It’s not easy raising teenagers,” said one more.
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record.
