Abandoned toddler dropped off at wrong house in Spring Child expected home Thursday night

Officials were searching for a mystery woman after leaving a 2-year-old on the front porch of a Spring house on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Officials were searching for a mystery woman after leaving a 2-year-old on the front porch of a Spring house on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Photo: Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Photo: Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Abandoned toddler dropped off at wrong house in Spring 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

A toddler abandoned Wednesday night on his neighbor's front porch in Spring is expected to be reunited tonight with his family and the woman who left the boy there could face criminal charges, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.

The woman – a friend of the child's mother – was apparently supposed to drop the 2-year-old off at his father's house in the afternoon, said Lt. Scott Spencer of the sheriff's office. When that didn't happen, the father assumed plans had changed and left his residence.

AMBUSHED: Two arrested in armed robbery of pizza delivery man

What followed was a series of events that angered the boy's father and shocked many Houston-area residents and law enforcement. Surveillance video showed the friend bringing the boy to a neighbor's house instead of the father's -- and leaving the child alone there at night.

"If that was her child, she wouldn't have left him," said the boy's father, Willie Simmons, as he stood on his doorstop Thursday morning while he spoke with the media. "She ain't have no business leaving my son right there. I try to hold it in, I can't hold that in, man. I can't keep holding that in. Just imagine if my nice neighbors weren't there. My son would have wandered in the street and got hit. Just imagine nobody would have been there. He just would have been walking."

Deputies were called to the 30700 block of Legends Ridge Drive in Spring around 8:20 p.m. after the homeowner discovered the toddler on her doorstep without an adult.

Video surveillance showed the woman arriving at the home while she carried the boy by one arm. She knocked on the door and rang the doorbell before leaving the boy on the step, along with two bags she'd also been carrying, Spencer said.

The whole incident lasted 23 seconds.

The woman left the scene in a white passenger car. She hasn't spoken to authorities, but the sheriff's office now knows her identity, Spencer said at a news conference. She was originally described as being in her mid-20s to early 30s.

Officials don't believe that she is on the run from the law at this time.

Authorities found the father after a member of the news media saw him leaving his residence Thursday and asked if he knew anything about the boy, Spencer said. He watched the video and recognized the child as his son.

Law enforcement knocked on every door nearby, including the father's, after the child was found alone, Spencer said. The father wasn't home at the time.

Simmons said the woman's actions Wednesday night were upsetting. "They done that for excitement ... cause she's laughing. On the camera she's laughing, he he's a toy, like it's a joke."

"Every time I watch that video I'm upset. You don't do that.

The mother of the child was in the hospital during the incident and was discharged this morning. She believed she was handing the boy to a responsible adult, Spencer said.

Simmon's next-door neighbor said she thought the incident was a "miscommunication."

"I just thought maybe our dog had gotten out. It was late, and our neighbors have kids and I thought it was something neighborly," said the woman, who requested to be identified as Mary. When (the child) didn't have an adult, we knocked on the doors and nobody was home, so we reviewed the video and saw that he'd been left and then we called the police.

"But it was always, we think this is just a wrong-house situation," she said. "Nobody thought it was totally random. It was more like, he belongs to somebody close by. It was a miscommunication."

Child Protective Services took custody of the 2-year-old, who is doing well and doesn't seem to be aware of what happened, Spencer said.

He's currently in foster care and is waiting to be reunited with his family.

"I can confirm that CPS is investigating and the child is safe, healthy, no signs of abuse and is happy," said Tejal Patel, spokeswoman of the Department of Family and Protective Services for the Greater Houston area. She later stated that the child was expected to be at home with his mother Thursday night.

The woman in the video could face charges of child abandonment, a third-degree felony. She hadn't been interviewed by authorities at the time of the press conference.