Home Alone

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office has arrested a mother they say left her 4-year-old and 2-year-old children home alone.
Deputies were called to a home on Highway 97, west of Molino, Tuesday when a man found the 4-year-old child wandering in the street. They went to the child's home and found the front door standing wide open. The child's mother was not home, but her crying 2-year-old was found inside.
A neighbor helped deputies find the childrens' mother, 26-year-old Shannon Whitaker. Whitaker told deputies the children were asleep when she left for a doctor's appointment. During the 2 and 1/2 hours she was gone, Walker's 4-year-old managed to get out of the house.
Walker is charged with two counts of child neglect. The Department of Children & Families has taken custody of both children.