DSS, CMPD investigating after infant abandoned in west Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX 46) - The Department of Social Services and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating after a baby was abandoned in west Charlotte Thursday night.

According to neighbors, baby Skylar was left with a man overnight who lived at the Lakewood Manor Apartments. The mother, Ya'Kesha Patterson told police he was the baby's uncle.

"There is no uncle," Shondonna Richardons said.

Officers were called to the 1600 block of Remount Road about 6:59 a.m. in reference to the incident. The caller informed police that he had met a woman and her baby Thursday night around 9 p.m. while she was walking through the Lakewood Manor complex on Watson Drive. He told police that the woman asked him to watch the baby for a while and then never returned.

"He had the baby, the mom said she was supposedly going somewhere but she had never came back. He said he was really trashed himself," Lakewood Manor resident Oquesha Crawford said.

Shondonna Richardson is baby Skylar's grandmother and says it's not the first time her daughter has left her children alone. Patterson has five kids and another on the way. According to Patterson's mother, just last week the Department of Social Services filed a case against her daughter.

"I told them that she had abandoned the kids not too long ago and i told them she was doing drugs and having the children with her and they told me it's not saying that the kids are in any imminent danger, so it's nothing they can do."

A neighbor confirmed to us that Patterson has been showing up at the Lakewood Manor apartment complex for the last three weeks.

"Last time I've seen the kids, they were soiled. I mean you could tell that no one changes their diaper," Crawford said.

Richardson says she's been trying to get help for her daughter's drug addiction with no success. She's already taking care of two of grand kids.

"If it was just her, I'd be 'Ok, I'd pray for my child' but we got kids involved here and that's why I'm trying to get involved," Richardson said.

The infant's mother, Ya'kesha Monique Patterson, has been cited for misdemeanor child neglect, according to CMPD. They say the mother and the 911 caller are telling conflicting stories, however it appears that the two are known to one another.

The child remains in DSS custody.