An Opelousas mother is accused of giving her children sleeping pills so she could drive to Lafayette for new piercings according to Sheriff Bobby Guidroz in a news release.
Erica Sams, 34, of the 100 block of Jude Lane, has been charged with four counts of improper supervision of a minor and two counts of child desertion.
Deputies responded to a wreck on May 1 where they found a vehicle with the keys still in it upside down in a ditch and unoccupied, he said.
The license plate was run it was determined that Sams was the owner, he said.
Whe the deputies arrived at Sams home to locate the driver, they discovered three minor children at the residence with no parent or guardian.
Guidroz said, “Juvenile detectives arrived at the home and spoke with the 6-, 8- and 10-year-olds as to the whereabouts of their mother. One of the children stated their mother; Erica Sams left them at home last night and had not returned this morning. It was learned that Sams gave her kids a sleeping pill and told them to take a bath then go to bed leaving them in the custody of her 14 year old son. The kids were unable to provide detectives with a current phone number for their mother and could not provide any other relative contact information.”
The children were taken to the St. Landry Parish Sheriffs Public Safety Complex and the Department of Family and Children Services was contacted.
“Just before 7 a,m, Erica Sams phoned the sheriff’s office from her home to report her car stolen. Deputies returned to Sams home and transported her to the office for questioning,” he said.
“During the interview Sams stated she left last night with a girlfriend to go to Lafayette to get some new piercings. Sams admitted to leaving her kids alone and always leaves her children alone at night to go to work. Sams also admitted to giving two of the kids a sleeping pill before she left to go to Lafayette,” he said.
Sams was charged and booked into the St. Landry Parish Jail with a bond set at $5,000.
The children were released to another family member.