Police said a Gastonia mother left her three children home alone for hours with no power.
The children, ages 4, 6 and 7, were left in the Columbia Street home alone and one of the sister called police on the mother.
One of the kids tried to light a candle and started a small fire.
The mother, Ashley Messer, has been charged with three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Their mother said Monday in court that she did nothing wrong.
"Your honor, may I speak?" Ashley Messer said.
Messer told the judge she just stepped out of her home for a few moments.
"I did not leave my children unattended,” she said. “My sister, she was there with them."
But her sister told police she wasn't there when Messer left.
The sister said she went to the house Sunday night to check on the children and her nephews had been left in a home with no power for as long as four hours.
The sister called 911 after searching for Messer.
"And I don't know where she is," she said.
One of the children set a small fire while trying to light a candle and the flames quickly burned out.
The landlord took a Channel 9 crew inside the home Monday, where dog feces were found in several rooms.
There was no water service to flush the toilets but they still looked like they were being used.
"It broke my heart," said neighbor Trudi Watson.
She had no idea the children were home alone, until police arrived.
"The kids told me their mom was going to jail," Watson said.
Messer was arrested last week because her 6-year-old son, who has autism, walked out of the house while she slept.
Drivers found him wandering in the middle of busy Union Road several blocks away.
Messer's aunt Rosa Brooks was glad the Department of Social Services took the children.
The children, ages 4, 6 and 7, were left in the Columbia Street home alone and one of the sister called police on the mother.
One of the kids tried to light a candle and started a small fire.
The mother, Ashley Messer, has been charged with three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Their mother said Monday in court that she did nothing wrong.
"Your honor, may I speak?" Ashley Messer said.
Messer told the judge she just stepped out of her home for a few moments.
"I did not leave my children unattended,” she said. “My sister, she was there with them."
But her sister told police she wasn't there when Messer left.
The sister said she went to the house Sunday night to check on the children and her nephews had been left in a home with no power for as long as four hours.
The sister called 911 after searching for Messer.
"And I don't know where she is," she said.
One of the children set a small fire while trying to light a candle and the flames quickly burned out.
The landlord took a Channel 9 crew inside the home Monday, where dog feces were found in several rooms.
There was no water service to flush the toilets but they still looked like they were being used.
"It broke my heart," said neighbor Trudi Watson.
She had no idea the children were home alone, until police arrived.
"The kids told me their mom was going to jail," Watson said.
Messer was arrested last week because her 6-year-old son, who has autism, walked out of the house while she slept.
Drivers found him wandering in the middle of busy Union Road several blocks away.
Messer's aunt Rosa Brooks was glad the Department of Social Services took the children.
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