HOUSTON – The mother of four abandoned children discovered in Spring made an emotional appearance in court Monday.
Angela Huff, 27, was charged Friday with four counts of child abandonment. Huff, who is currently out of jail on bond, went before a judge Monday afternoon in Harris County’s 185th District Criminal Court to hear conditions of her bond and receive her statutory warning.
During her appearance, Huff broke down as she told the judge she didn’t have family or friends to rely on to help with her children. The judge told Huff to focus on her mental health.
Huff’s attorney, Emily Detoto, said Huff suffers from PTSD, anxiety, paranoia and depression from a January 2022 incident where the children’s father, Markel Dorsey, 31, was charged with assaulting and choking her in a hotel. Huff said she was in the process of working with the Harris Center to create a safety plan.
Dorsey was charged with evading arrest violating a protective order, which prohibits him from having contact with Huff.
Huff’s grandparents currently have custody of her children. She is prohibited from having any contact with any of her children as laid out by CPS.
“One of the main concerns the court has is that she contact her mental health provider and make sure that she’s stable,” Detoto said. “Right now, our goal is to get her in a good mental place so that she can eventually be reunited with her children.”
Last Friday, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said three teenagers were walking in the 4000 block of Cypress Hill Drive after 10p.m. when they noticed three of the children in the road. According to Gonzalez, the teens said they heard a loud thud coming from the home, which turned out to be a 1-year-old toddler apparently falling out of a crib. A total of two boys and two girls, between the ages of 1 and 4, were found, deputies said.
According to Gonzalez, the children were left alone for up to two days. Prosecutors said in court that Huff initially told investigators that she left the children with a friend but changed her story to admit she left the children unsupervised.
Detoto said Huff went to visit Dorsey at the hotel he was staying because she was entangled in an abusive relationship.
“So the dynamic was probably that she she felt compelled. He’s the father of her children,” the public defender said. “I think there’s probably some battered spouse syndrome in there.”
Huff’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 13.
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