Woman accused of leaving 4 children alone overnight

CLOVER, S.C.,None — A Clover woman is accused of leaving her four children alone overnight, while she went to look for drugs.

Jennifer Weaver, 31, is charged with four counts of unlawful neglect of children.

Clover police said she disappeared early Thursday morning, Dec. 8, and wasn't seen for three days. On Friday morning, an anonymous caller reported Weaver missing. Police went to her apartment on Willow Oak Circle, and found her children there alone. Their ages are 13, 12, 4 and 5 months.

The two older children had stayed home from school with the baby, but had put the 4-year-old on a bus to school. They said they didn't know where their mother was.

Clover Police Capt. David Dover was there when the Department of Social Services was interviewing the older children. He said the scene was emotional, especially seeing the 5-month-old baby.

"I found myself picking up the child, putting the child on my shoulder, and consoling the child while we were there," he said.

According to police, Weaver called her parents two days after she left from somewhere in North Carolina, but wouldn't reveal where she was. She told family members she was planning to check into a treatment center.

She later agreed to turn herself in to Clover police on Monday.

Family members told police that relatives took care of Weaver's older children for 10 years, because of her ongoing substance abuse problems.

She got the children back in August when family members believed she had straightened her life out. Now, relatives have the children in their care again.

Weaver's stepfather told Channel 9 by phone that he just wanted to get her some help.

Neighbors at her apartment complex said they often saw Weaver playing with her children and never imagined anything was wrong.

"That's a shocker to me," said Dewanda Gardin. "They were always outside, playing on the playground, or in the yard, and she was always with them."

Unlawful child neglect carries a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count. Weaver is still in jail on a $10,000 bond.

WSOC