Police: Mom Left Children Alone At Motel While Making DoorDash Deliveries
SMITHFIELD, N.C. – A 23-year-old Smithfield mother has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse after police allege she left her two young children alone in a motel room while she worked as a DoorDash driver in Wake County.
Michae Edelle Branham is accused of leaving her children, ages 2 and 4, inside a room at the Super 8 motel on Outlet Center Drive on Sept. 21 while she went to work.
Police said a member of the motel cleaning staff entered the room and found the two children without clothing. The employee dressed the children and took them to the front desk, where authorities were contacted.
When Smithfield Police arrived, officers allege front desk clerk Shawna Marie Weatherly, 43, of Raleigh, initially refused to allow them to see the children.
Officers were eventually able to check on the children and began an investigation that led to Branham’s arrest.
Branham was charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse and released on a $1,500 secured bond. She is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 30.
Weatherly was issued a citation for resist, delay or obstruct a public officer and released at the scene. She is also scheduled to appear in court Nov. 30.
Police said the children were not injured.
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I hope she doesn’t lose her kids
It’s a terrible thing for a parent to lose their child. But leaving a 2 year old and 4 year old in a hotel by themselves????? She deserves to lose them . They could have off’d themselves by accident. Plus she could have tooj them with her
she left them ALONE !!! Any thing could have happened to the kids !!!
She could have taken the children with her to door dash. i have done it many times. second, she was in wake county not even nearby, and they aren’t even old enough to talk let alone be alone. third, they had no clothes on???? I am sorry i get doing everything you can to earn a living, but you do not leave children that young alone.
Im not going to judge because people are honestly struggling out there whether they put themselves in a bad situation or not. It’s just sad that this is where we are in America in 2026.
Sally, who is this “WE” in your statement “It’s just sad that this is where we are in America in 2026.” This is not America, this is one person’s poor decision making, and unfortunately there will be many more incidents just like this with worse outcomes. Stop the nonsense! There is no personal accountability anymore. People would rather blame everyone else, or “the system.” This mother may learn a valuable life lesson, but I doubt it. Good luck kids.
It’s not America’s fault.
It’s the mothers fault.
Why her family not helping out?
Maybe they need help themselves.
That clerk needed to go to jail.
Are you one of the babies Daddy?
Sad case. She is working to provide a roof over her kids head, and doesn’t have any help. I know the hotel is probably overly expensive, and raggedy
yes, it is sad that she chose to leave children that young alone when all she had to do is take with her. you can door dash with children. many do it all the time as I have myself.
I’ll preface this with I don’t agree with mom leaving the children in the room alone… I sure hope that mom is able to get support from DSS or other agencies and not just be shamed for the choice she made. None of us know her situation, we only know what this story tells us. Imagine how many other children are being left alone so their parents can make money to support them… Please don’t come for me as I am saying again that I don’t agree with the children being left alone.
My first thought – Dang, at least the lady is working to support her family. I was feeling bad for her. THEN I read the kids were 2 and 4!! WTH? I certainly hope this young mother can get some help and become the person she dreams of being. Maybe this unfortunate situation will catapult her to success. There are resources out there!
Now what I would hope is that they find she did leave the kids with someone and that person was negligent as i hate to know a mom would make such poor decisions.
Why would the clerk call the cops and then keep the kids from seeing them??? I swear people are slow as h*ll!
I take my 1 year old grand daughter with me door dashing when babysitting her. I wish she would’ve just put the babies in car seats and took them with her.
I Leave Mine All The Time; H*ll They’re By Themselves Right Now As I Text!!! She’s A Baby Herself Still Learning!! All Y’all Big Grown A** People Always Have Something To Say About Someone Else Life When It’s People In Your Family Right Now That Does F***ed Up S**t!!! It’s Bad Enough That She’s Staying In A Hotel, Ontop Of Trying To Work To Provide Shelter For Her Kids, And Here Some Nosey A** Person Goes Into Her Room; Then The First Thing You Want To Do Is Call The Pigs Instead Of Calling Her First To Even Figure Out Why!! Y’all B Wanting To Take Our Kids Just So Y’all Can Get A Free Check Instead Of Helping Young Struggling Parents Like Herself!! F**k Any And Everyone That Has Something Negative To Say About The Next Person Situation When Knowing D**nwell That Everyone In Your Family Isn’t Perfect!!
Wasn’t no one being nosey. They just were doing their job. And I have crazy in my family and some don’t even have their kids I will say same about my own as I would a stranger. She should have taken them with her.
I feel bad for this mom having this blasted all over the news like this. We haven’t walked in her shoes. It appears she is just out trying to work and YES for sure has made very bad parenting decisions for the kids. She may have felt very backed into a corner and didn’t know what to do. If she didn’t have family and the father/s to help with the kids and can’t afford daycare. At least she is not one of the hundreds of drugged out parents the go off to the bars and flop houses getting high all night leaving their kids at home alone hungry sitting in dirty diapers. So maybe instead of pointing accusatory fingers maybe start gofundme to help her out with daycare expenses. They say it takes a village thats what I heard
Maybe, she should have Lindsey Clancy’d her children (She gets Empathy). Get this young lady some mental health help; so she can flourish. She could be suffering….. to leave her babies alone. View and consider the full picture..
Hard to believe all the people blaming everyone except the person responsible, for making a horrible, dangerous choice. There’s lots of people who are struggling to get by who don’t abandon a 2 yr old in a hotel room for ANY reason.
There’s a person responsible for this and that’s her picture.
May she learn from this and make better choices.