A woman employed in the stable area at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort was arrested on felony charges Wednesday night after she allegedly admitted to leaving her two children, ages 1 and 5, alone in a stable loft that was padlocked closed for five to six hours while she worked.
Erika Adame Garcia, 21, who lists Oaklawn, 2705 Central Ave., as her address, was taken into custody shortly before 7:30 p.m. and charged with two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, each punishable by up to six years in prison.
Garcia, who had no prior criminal history, remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bond and had a hold placed on her by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Tuesday, Hot Springs police assisted the Department of Human Services with a welfare check at the stables at Oaklawn. Upon arrival, officers made contact with Garcia in an upstairs loft where employees live on site.
It was determined Garcia had a 5-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son with her that would be left unattended while she and her husband would work. While at the scene, DHS investigators spoke with Garcia through a translator via telephone and she allegedly admitted to leaving both children alone in the upstairs loft while she worked, for around five to six hours per day.
Garcia said she would check on the children every two hours during her breaks. She noted the room where the children stayed was padlocked from the outside so they would be unable to get out. She said the children were left from 6 a.m. to about 11 a.m. every day.
The affidavit notes the loft room where the children stayed was "completely made of a plywood type material" and there was no air conditioning unit in the room, no access to food and no restroom. The parent's room was separate from the children's room and located across a hallway.
Both rooms had a heating unit and a small table where various items were stored. The parent's room was the only one that contained a window air conditioning unit. The window in the children's room was observed to be open and the fire alarm system would alert "every couple of minutes," indicating the battery was low.
"The room contained several safety hazards including a pair of scissors easily accessible to the children," it said.
"Due to the numerous safety hazards observed in the room and the admission to externally locking the door where her children were, the children were placed into protective custody by DHS," the affidavit states.
Local on 03/27/2020