Police: Mom Accused Of Forcing Boy, 5, To Smoke Crack Cocaine
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A mother is facing a long list of charges, accused of abusing and abandoning her young son and allegedly forcing him to take drugs.
Police are looking for the woman, identified as 39-year-old Rochelle Daniels of Brighton Heights.
Investigators say, among other things, she is accused of abandoning her 5-year-old son and may have forced him to smoke crack cocaine from a pipe.
According to the criminal complaint, the boy told police his mother put a "long thing" in his mouth, and "took something white and put it on the end."
Then, he told investigators, "Mommy lit the end of it and told me to smoke it."
Daniels' neighbor, Antwan Burton, admits that she left the little boy with him on Aug. 27 and did not return.
"I don't know why. I couldn't tell you exactly why she didn't come back. I know she didn't come back and that was it," said Burton.
The criminal complaint reports that after the boy snuck out of Burton's home and ran to a neighbor's house, his aunt eventually came and got him. She's now caring for the 5-year-old and filed a missing person report for his mother.
She told police that she found Daniels' home "in extreme disarray with a strong odor, along with food and garbage scattered throughout the house," the criminal complaint reports.
The child also told investigators, according to the criminal complaint, that his mother locked him in his room in the dark, left him alone at night, and "always" wanted him to sleep.
He also told authorities, "I had to get food from my neighbors because I was so hungry."
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Davis is wanted on charges of endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person, corruption of minors and simple assault.
"Everybody have their demons, you know," said Burton. "What happened behind closed doors, I don't know."
Like Burton, other people in the neighborhood are defending Daniels. They say they thought she was a good mother. But they haven't seen her since late August.
"She loved her son. As far as having her son smoke crack, I don't buy that," said Burton.
