JEFFERSON CO., Pa. (EYT) – A Brockway woman waived her hearing on Tuesday on felony charges stemming from her two-year-old son falling out of a second-story window while under her care.
Court documents indicate the following charges against 31-year-old Madison Joy Williams were waived for court on Tuesday, May 26:
– Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, Felony 1
– Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, Felony 2 (two counts)
– Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, Felony 3
– Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Misdemeanor 2 (two counts)
The charges have been transferred to the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas.
Williams remains lodged in the Jefferson County Jail on $35,000.00 monetary bail.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred in early February.
Details of the case:
According to a criminal complaint, on February 7, Madison Joy Williams was at her residence with her two children, a two-year-old and a six-year-old.
Williams was alone with the children, the complaint notes.
Later that day, the two-year-old child fell out of a window of the second-story apartment, according to the complaint.
The complaint notes both children were allowed to play at the window unattended and unsupervised.
Police spoke to a downstairs neighbor, who reported that earlier that day, she had observed the two-year-old child at the window upstairs with the window open and the screen lifted enough for him to stick his arms and legs out of the window. The neighbor reported she yelled from outside, trying to get the attention of someone inside the upstairs apartment, and after a few minutes, the six-year-old child came to the window, and the neighbor told him to get away from the window and get his mother.
The neighbor said she then went to the door of the apartment and “banged and banged on it,” but no one ever came to the door. She also told police this was common, as she had knocked on the door in the past when she was concerned about the children, and no one had come to the door. She also noted she has had to call the landlord about the residents leaving the children unattended.
The neighbor reported that she then had to leave for work, but also noted that in the morning, there was nothing on the ground outside, but later in the day, she observed toys, broken eggs, and boy’s underwear on the ground below the window where the child fell out. She also told police she often keeps an “eye out” for the six-year-old, because he is “constantly outside running around unattended” and said a local daycare has voluntarily taken him into their facility over concern at least twice. She also stated the entire time she was there, another neighbor was with her, the complaint indicates.
The second neighbor was also interviewed. She reported that while she was outside with the first neighbor, she observed the two-year-old child sticking his head out of the window.
Police also spoke to an employee of a nearby daycare center.
According to the complaint, the employee noted she had seen the six-year-old child outside in the cold throughout January into February and had started letting him come inside the daycare to get warm. She said she had let him in on no less than 15 occasions and had sent a letter home to his mother but didn’t think the letter was even taken out of his backpack. She also noted she had never seen an adult at his house, although it was not a safe environment for him to cross the street to get on his bus unsupervised.
The complaint states at 3:39 p.m. on February 7, Madison Williams placed a 9-1-1 call reporting that a child fell from a second-story window.
Dusan Ambulance responded to the call and transported the child from the residence on Broad Street to Penn Highlands DuBois where he was examined and placed in critical condition due to the nature of the incident, then upgraded to stable condition. He was then transferred to Children’s hospital in Pittsburgh.
The complaint states the child fell ten to twelve feet from the window to the ground and suffered a laceration to his head.
The six-year-old child was interviewed regarding the incident and reported he saw his brother fall out of the window and tried to save him, but it was too late. He went on to say the younger child had been throwing toys out of the window when he had slipped and fallen.
The complaint notes both children were left unattended and unsupervised over a period of hours where the two-year-old was able to throw multiple items out of the second-story window, while Williams, who was at home at the time, did not stop the child from playing at the window and left the child there, creating a substantial risk for serious bodily injury.
Williams was arraigned in front of Magisterial District Judge David B. Inzana at 11:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 30.
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