A Tennessee mom is in trouble after she reportedly abandoned her two-year-old child so she could go on a shopping trip. Johnson City Press reports that Britney Danielle Looney has been charged with felonious child neglect over the incident, but she’s all smiles in her mugshot. Meanwhile, the details of her case are disturbing.
Authorities in Church Hill were called to an apartment complex on Saturday night after witnesses claimed that a child was wondering around unattended. The neighbor who called police told authorities that the toddler was wearing clothing that was soaked, and she was carrying a lighter while wandering up a staircase, outside, by herself.
The Times News reports that officers were able to locate Looney, who had returned from shopping at a nearby dollar store. She told authorities that she had left her two-year-old daughter in the care of her niece, who had spent the night with her. She even went as far as to make a scene as though she were angered by her inattentive niece. The responding officer’s report on the incident made note of her behavior.
“Ms. Looney then appeared to become very upset and walked up to the second level of the complex where her apartment was, yelling for her niece whom had allegedly spent the night with her, and according to her, was suppose to be watching the child while she went to the Family Dollar.”
However, the responding officer also talked to the father of the infant, after the Tennessee mom was arrested, and the man confirmed that nobody had spent the night with them or had been at their apartment to care for the child.
Being arrested and charged with felony child neglect didn’t stop this Tennessee mom from smiling in her mugshot like she doesn’t have a care in the world, but she’s not the only person to crack a grin in a mugshot. A Texas woman’s smiley mugshot went viral in March of this year after she reportedly broke into a yoga studio and set fire to it to “ relieve her anger .” Even at least one of Justin Bieber’s mugshots has showcased his grin.
NPR reports that smiling in your mugshot is a bad idea — as if anybody really needed to be told that. A South Carolina woman learned that lesson the hard way when she was threatened with lockdown for smiling during her mugshot.
Photo: Church Hill Police mugshot
