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Neighbors: 4-year-old tried jumping out of window of locked bedroom while mom was at work

Posted at 12:35 PM, Apr 04, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-04 21:00:27-04

Newport News, Va. - Genavea Eldreen Blake, a 25-year-old Newport News mom, has been charged with neglect and abduction after police say she locked her 3 kids in their bedrooms while she went to work.

Three children, ages 4, 5, and 6, were all locked in their bedrooms with no access to food, water, or bathrooms police say. They had been left alone in the apartment for about an hour before police arrived.

Neighbors tell NewsChannel 3 the boy was trying to jump out of the window and threw clothes down to soften the landing.

Police went out to the apartment on Manor Road to respond to a report about child neglect.

When they got there, they saw the 4-year-old boy talking to neighbors from a second story window. Police asked him if he could open the front door and that's when he told them he was locked inside of his bedroom.

Officers were unable to get a key, so the fire department had to use a ladder to enter through a window. They had to pry the door open from the inside because the doorknob was reversed and the lock was on the outside.

Once inside, they found the 4-year-old and his two sisters.

Police were able to locate Blake at work who returned to the apartment. She was arrested and has been charged with abduction and child neglect.

Relatives now have custody of the children.