MOORHEAD – A Moorhead mother faces child endangerment charges after allegedly answering a police welfare check drunk and naked from the waist down, with an infant and 2-year-old clad in urine-soaked diapers inside a filthy, cluttered apartment, and dropping the baby while officers looked on, according to court documents filed Wednesday in Clay County District Court.
Documents describe the scene that greeted Moorhead police officers after they were called about 6 p.m. Nov. 24 by the children's father to an apartment at 404 Sunrise Circle No. 6.
The father told police he needed them to check on the children, who were supposed to be there with their mother, Alex Jayne Shaw. He told police he was unable to reach Shaw by phone, and believed Shaw might have been drinking again.
Court documents say police had been to the home on prior welfare checks, but that Shaw had been too drunk to come to the door.
This time, as officers stood outside the door, they heard a small child saying "Mommy, Mommy" and "wake up," documents state.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shaw's sister then opened the door, documents state. She seemed intoxicated and unsteady on her feet, documents state.
Rotting meat and milk were left out on the kitchen counter, along with several knives; the floor was so cluttered, it was difficult to walk, court documents say.
Inside the apartment, Shaw was naked from the waist down, and also appeared to be drunk, at one point dropping the baby when she lost her balance trying to put the child in the crib, documents state.
Police reported that urine was leaking out of the infant and 2-year-old's diapers, documents state.
Officers found a 1-liter bottle of vodka in a bedroom with roughly an ounce left.
Documents state Shaw didn't cooperate when she was arrested. She kicked and yelled obscenities and was at times incoherent, finally having to be carried to her cell by an officer and jail staff, documents state.
A breath test showed her with a blood-alcohol content of 0.269 percent.
Shaw, 24, was charged with two counts of child endangerment and one count of obstructing the legal process, all of which are gross misdemeanors.
ADVERTISEMENT
Her sister, who was not named in the Clay County court complaint against Shaw, was also taken into custody on an outstanding federal warrant for child endangerment.
Shaw's next court date is Dec 17.
