Charges To Be Dropped If Wandering Toddler's Mom Takes Parenting Classes

Charges will be dropped against the mother of a 2-year-old Rankin girl who was found wandering alone earlier this month if the woman completes parenting classes.

The girl was wearing only a diaper and shirt when she was found walking along Kenmawr Avenue at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 1, police said.

Once Danielle Roney takes the classes, charges of reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child will be dropped, the judge said.

"(The girl) was found filthy, in a dirty, soiled diaper. It was people in the community who came forward and helped her," said Rankin Police Chief Ryan Wooten.

Police took the girl to the Rankin Police Department while they searched for the child's parents. Roney was located later that day.

Roney said she fell asleep and that the child slipped outside chasing the family dog. Witnesses confirmed to police that they saw the child chasing the dog by the busy road.

"That's probably one of our busiest streets with the traffic. Thank God she didn't wander out into the street," said Lt. Steve Sion of the Rankin Police Department.

Lisa Bezick said she was angry and upset when she found the toddler wandering along the busy roadway.

“She had been walking for a while,” Bezick said that day. “Her feet were black. She had (a) heavy diaper on.”

Bezick, who did not testify Wednesday, left the magistrate's office without talking to reporters but came back and offered support for the young mother.

“I'm happy I was there,” Bezick said. “I got to meet her. We're going to be friends through this. She's a good mom, very nice person. Stuff happens to the best of us. She's going to keep on going.”

"Basically she just said, ‘Mommy,’ and ‘puppy.’ We tried to get her name, but no response," Sion said of the girl.

Roney's aunt, Susie Mahan, defended her niece.

"She's a very good mother," said Mahan. "She loves that child. She loves Neveah very dearly."

The child is in the custody of Allegheny County Children and Youth Services.

"It's a bad situation, but I don't believe she deserves to lose her child. I don't believe she's not a good mother, because that's not true," said Mahan.

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