NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WTKR) -- A 25-year-old Newport News mother is facing charges after police said she locked her three children in their bedrooms while she went to work.
Police said Genavea Eldreen Blake's three children, ages 4, 5, and 6, were locked in their bedrooms with no access to food, water or bathrooms when neighbors called the cops.
Police said the children had been left home alone for about an hour when neighbors spotted a 4-year-old boy trying to break free by jumping out of a window.
Neighbors said the child had tossed down some clothes in an attempt to soften the landing.
When police arrived, neighbors on the ground were talking to the child. Police learned the child was locked in when they asked him to open front door.
As a result, the firefighters climbed up a ladder, entered the boy's room and had to pry open the door from the inside. That's because they said the doorknob had been reversed -- and the lock was on the outside.
Once inside, officers discovered the boy's his two sisters and Blake was arrested a short time later. She was charged with abduction and child neglect.
Police said relatives now have custody of the children.
