The name Shanesha Taylor became part of a viral conversation this past March when the entire nation sympathized with the single Black mother after she was arrested for leaving her kids in a hot Arizona car during a job interview.
And they didn’t just express their concern with social media posts. After her teary mugshot went viral, they opened their wallets and raised about $114,000 for Taylor to get her life back on track. Prosecutors of her case were content. As long as she put $40,000 of the donations into a trust fund for the kids and take parenting classes. As of yesterday, November 6, that didn’t happen, so they were forced to proceed with the felony child abuse charges.
Via AZCentral:
The revised deal — if combined with the completion of substance-abuse and parenting classes — would have resulted in the felony charges against her being dropped.
Taylor’s attorneys withdrew from the case on Thursday, and she met with the media after the brief hearing to try to explain why she has not placed some of the more than $114,000 she received from donors into the trusts, as the agreement with prosecutors required.
I’m still the person that they thought I was,” Taylor said without an attorney present. “I’m still trying to do the best for my children.”
Taylor told reporters outside the courthouse that she still has $72,000 left of the donated funds and that she failed to meet the deadline for other reasons.
Taylor said one of the main reasons was that she disagreed with the terms of the trust fund, which would provide her children with money only if they attended post-secondary education.
“I can move the money over and put it into place, but if doesn’t take care of the children, it’s futile,” Taylor said. “It would lock them out of their money if they didn’t go to college.”
Taylor also said that Thursday’s deadline was moved up from the original November date too suddenly; she didn’t have time to put the $40,000 in because her account allows only $20,000 in withdrawals a month.
Montgomery rejected Taylor’s excuses, telling the publication his “patience” had reached its boiling point. “She will either comply with setting aside the money previously agreed upon or we will move forward with prosecution, and that entire avenue of resolution will be off the table.”
She had one job without actually having one and still couldn’t get it right. The publication also found that she has been feeding her children Chuck E. Cheese and McDonald’s with the money as well.
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Photo: AZCentral
