A Memphis woman was arrested after allegedly transporting her two grandchildren in dog kennels. Leimome Cheeks, 62, was charged with two counts of child endangerment according to Memphis Police.
A video of Cheeks unloading the children out of the kennels circulated around Facebook and caught the attention of authorities.
According to police, Cheeks claimed that there was no room in the back of the trunk so she told her grandchildren to sit in pet cages located in the back of a Ford Explorer. She allegedly drove for nearly thirty miles with her grandchildren in the kennels from Collierville to Whitehaven, Tennessee. Neighbors said Cheeks had the kennels because she had recently gotten two German Shepherd puppies.
Temperatures reached nearly 95 degrees in Memphis and the children, ages 7 and 8, told police that the kennels were very hot.
“I’m just so sad for the babies. For them to be in the hot car like that in cages is sad,” neighbor Nikita Blaketold WREG-TV.
Neighbors were stunned by the incident.
“I am still shocked. I can’t really see her doing that. She is such a nice lady,” another neighbor, Skylarr Blake, said.
Neighbor Camilla Cowan told FOX13 that she was horrified to see the video on Facebook, but does not think Cheeks knew what she was doing was wrong.
“I don’t think she knew because she loves her grandkids. They’re always playing outside with the dogs and stuff.” Cowan said.
Cheeks is scheduled to appear before a judge on Monday, June 11th.
[Image via Fox13 screengrab]
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