BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ, Ky. — A woman from Inez is facing charges after her toddler was found wandering alone on a highway, according to Martin County Sheriff John Kirk.
The incident occurred when the 2-year-old escaped from home and was seen running along Route 40 near its intersection with Route 645 on the evening of May 29.
Passing motorists, including a woman returning home from work in Prestonsburg, intervened to stop the child from entering the intersection.
“She turned onto Route 40 from Route 645 and noticed the child running along Route 40 toward the intersection,” Kirk said. “As she hollered at the kid and chased after it, the kid laughed and ran that much faster.
A young couple from Johnson County came by and helped retrieve the child.
The child’s mother, 34-year-old Samantha Adkins, learned the toddler had left the home and came looking for it.
“She was holding the child when I got there,” Kirk stated. “I asked her what happened. She said she was in the bathroom when the oldest of her other two children came to the door crying, saying the 2-year-old had left the house.”
Sheriff Kirk questioned Adkins regarding the whereabouts of her other two children.
“I wanted to know if they were unattended,” he stated. “She said that her male friend was there watching them while she came looking for the child.”
Sheriff Kirk went to the home, which was about 1,500 feet from where the child was walking, to check on the other children and to speak to the woman’s male friend.
“The male advised that he and she were actually in the bedroom when the older kid came there crying and saying the other kid had escaped the house,” said Kirk.
Sheriff Kirk described the condition of the home as “very nasty.”
“There was very little food in the residence and an open sewer running in the front yard,” he said.
The three children were removed from the home.
Kirk arrested Adkins on charges of second-degree wanton endangerment and endangering the welfare of a minor.
“She was charged with wanton endanger for allowing her child to escape,” the sheriff noted. “It could have very well been killed had it made it to that busy intersection where cars are running 55-60 mph. She was charged with endangering the welfare of a minor for leaving her children between the ages of 2 and 4 unattended in that environment while she was in the bedroom with a male friend.”
Kirk was thankful for the timing of the motorist who spotted the child.
“Normally, she would have already traveled through there, but she worked over,” he explained. “It was perfect timing.”
The sheriff mentioned the unforeseeable nature of children’s actions.
“Children will escape sometimes, regardless of how well a person watches them,” he said. “They’re escape artists. However, this should never have happened.”