Raven Yates: Texas mother arrested for abandoning her 2 children for two months 'smiled wide', put on lipstick for mugshot
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ROMAN FOREST, TEXAS: Police have arrested a Texas woman who was accused of abandoning her two young children for two months. The mother-of-two smiled wide while she was being arrested in Alabama on Wednesday, March 8. Raven Yates reportedly sought permission from the police to put on lipstick for the photograph to be captured after she was taken into custody.
The 31-year-old woman grinned while she was caught by the US Marshals in Mobile city where Yates had been living. Texas' Roman Forest Chief of Police Stephen Carlisle said that she was taken into custody after the officer managed to get inside the apartment at around 4.30 pm after they broke down a bedroom door, reported ABC 13.
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'She wanted to look good'
In a statement issued to the news outlet, Carlisle talked about her arrest in Alabama and stated that Yates "was photographed in handcuffs with a full smile on her face and seemingly unbothered by the charges against her for allegedly putting her own children in danger," and added, "I think, she was playing for the camera. She wanted to have a smile. She wanted to look good. The arresting officer reportedly said she asked about putting lipstick on before the photo was taken." The mother-of-two allegedly abandoned her 3-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter on September 28, 2022, at their home in Maplewood Ridge Drive located in Roman Forest.
Raven Yates threatened her daughter after alleged neglect
Raven Yates reportedly threatened her 12-year-old daughter after she abandoned them telling her if she informed anyone about the alleged incident of neglect, her father would separate her from her brother by taking her away. The 3-year-old boy is her half-brother as he has a different biological father, according to investigators.
Her daughter then secretively managed to obtain food by calling her father to send food regularly by ordering takeout and telling him the mother was tied up at her work. However, the father was alerted by the family members in November after they spotted Yates in Alabama, reported New York Post.
On November 14, the man who lived and worked in California, called the police to report that both the children were left home alone for two months and barely had access to food and medicine. The father then traveled to Texas to meet the police at the residence where the children were left to fend for themselves. The children appeared healthy and were then shifted to Alabama as they were placed under the care of their grandmother. She had been sharing social media posts over the past months, detailing the situation about her children which helped the police find tips and leads.
Yates had been staying in an apartment with a man, according to a manager who confirmed the tip the US Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force had been following. Awaiting her extradition back to Texas, Yates is taken into custody in the Mobile County Jail.