Mother Charged With Child Endangerment

A Bay Minette mother was charged with endangering the welfare of a child Monday night when a neighbor found her two-year old son walking alone down Old Carney Road near busy Highway 31. Vandela Johnson was booked into the Baldwin County Corrections Center and has since bonded out. Johnson told deputies she fell asleep and had no idea how her son got out of the house or how long the toddler had been wandering the streets.

"After knocking knocking on the door for about 15 minutes, the neighbor got no response so they took the child home," says Cpl. Mike Gaull with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. "Not only as a law enforcement officer but as a parent it makes you concerned that that child could have been seriously injured and thank God the child wasn't abducted."

People living on Old Carney Road say traffic in the area can be dangerous.

"Old Carney Road is pretty busy," says Ann Paschal. "We even have large 18-wheelers cut through here to go to 112, and it can be very dangerous for a tiny, little baby."

The Alabama Department of Human Resources is now investigating.