Roswell Mom Petina Minor Regrets Leaving 5-Year-Old Home Alone

ROSWELL, Ga. -- It could happen to any working parent. That's the message from a Roswell mother who went to jail for leaving her 5-year-old son at home alone so she could go to work.

"It was a bad judgment call," Petina Minor said of her decision.

Minor agreed to tell her side of the story to Channel 2's Mike Petchenik because she wanted to clear her name and send a wake-up call to other single, working parents, who might make the same decision.

"I’m leaing a huge lesson and that will be the first and the last time I ever do anything like that," she told Petchenik.

Minor said she works oveights at her job, and up until April 21, she'd been furloughed and home with son, Vaughn. When she did work, she told Petchenik, her sister watched the boy. On the night of the arrest, she said her sister was unavailable, so she made a snap decision to leave him home alone with a cell phone and some snacks.

Just after 11 o'clock that evening, Roswell police dispatchers received a 911 call from Vaughn, stating that someone had broken into his room at the Studio Six Extended Stay off Old Holcomb Bridge Road.

”People’s (sic) in my house and they won’t leave," he told the dispatcher, who then asked to speak to an adult.

When police realized Vaughn was by himself, Minor told Petchenik they called her at work and told her to hurry home. They later determined that nobody had broken into the room, and that Vaughn placed the call because he was scared.

”I’ve never been in trouble. I’ve never been close to a police car," she said. "It wasn’t a pleasant situation.

Minor told Petchenik the hardest part has been being away from her son. She said he's been in foster care since the arrest, but that she was told she'd regain permanent custody as early as Monday.

”I’m anxious about getting him back because I feel like now we can piece our life back together," she said, adding that she would be moving back in with her sister.

Minor said she hopes her story strikes a chord with other single, working parents like herself.

"Between sacrificing your child’s safety and a job, you have to go with your family first," she said.

Roswell police charged Minor with misdemeanor reckless conduct. She's due back in Roswell City court next month.