Sonya Hendren, a mother from Sacramento, Calif., is facing a possible jail sentence for allowing her son, 4-year-old Tomahawk Hendren, to play outside a mere 120 feet away from her front door, within a gated community.
"He was outside and the neighbor called the cops on us," the boy's mother, Sonya Hendren, said, according to FOX's Sacramento affiliate KTXL-TV.
Sonya argues that Tomahawk is fairly mature for his age, and had already shows signs of him being ready to go outside alone within their gated apartment complex. Tomahawk would allegedly go outside for a little while, only to report back to Sonya a few moments later to let her know that he was safe.
During one of those outings, two neighbors, identified as Sonja Horrell and her daughter Brandi, say they saw Tomahawk playing outside unattended for 15 to 20 minutes, reported Express. They said they approached him and told him to go home, but in response, he told them that he wasn't ready to stop playing.
After several futile attempts, the pair went back to their apartment and called Child Protection Services. However, what they thought was going to be a simple lecture turned into a whole case, and now Sonya has to keep Tomahawk within her sights or she'll be held accountable for consequences.
"We have a CPS (Child Protective Service) case now and every time he's not in my visual site we're in violation," Sonya said, according to Sportact.
Though Sonja and Brandi say they meant no harm, they don't regret calling CPS since Sonya can now learn how to effectively monitor her son. "I'm not mad she has to do things now to teach her, because what if someone did take him?" Brandi Horrell said.
"How would she feel if he was on an AMBER Alert? Then what would she be feeling?" Sonja Horrell said.
In addition to the ongoing CPS case, Sonya was also arrested and charged with felony child neglect and endangerment, and may now face a maximum penalty of six months in jail and three years probation. If the prosecution decides to move forward with this case, however, as Sonya's attorney notes, it would need to be proven that Sonya willfully placed Tomahawk in danger.
