A mother arrested in Seminole County after Friday for allegedly abandoning her 7-year-old son in a movie theater will stay in jail for now.

Carolina Uchoa, 34, was arrested Thursday nightin Altamonte Springs. Her mother tracked her down at a friend's house where she had been partying, and made her turn herself into police. She was booked into the Seminole County Jail on charges of child neglect and criminal mischief.



According to police, Uchoa used a state probation visit with her son to take him to the movies.

Investigators said about halfway through the movie, Uchoa left her son alone in the theater. The boy thought his mother was going to the bathroom, but she never came back.

The boy told police he eventually went out to the movie theater parking lot here and realized his mother’s car was no longer here.



Police said the boy's father eventually found out what happened and picked up the child, who was not hurt but upset and confused after being left alone for hours.

The boy’s father told police his son told him his mother was drinking “mean juice” which is their code for drinking alcohol.



News 13 learned Uchoa was already on probation from a 2012 incident where investigators say she lit her bedroom on fire while she was upset about losing custody of her son.



Investigators said this was one of the saddest cases they have ever seen.

