Mom Abandons Child At Hampton Inn: Cops

BEDFORD PARK, IL -- A Louisiana woman was taken into custody after leaving her young son at a hotel in Bedford Park, prosecutors said. Jade Kenny, 37, of Slidell, LA, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a felony charge of child abandonment. Kenny was arrested on a $500,000 warrant.

Around 3 p.m. March 23, Kenny went to the Chicago Midway Hampton Inn, 6540 S. Cicero Ave. in Bedford Park. Kenny went to the front desk and requested a plunger. The prosecutor said that when Kenny and her 8-year-old son stepped into the elevator, an employee watched her push the child out of the elevator door, and go up without him. The boy sat on a bench next to the elevator for the next several hours, without food, water or supervision. Kenny turned out not to be a guest at the Hampton Inn. When she did not return, the prosecutor said the employee called Bedford Park police.

The boy was placed with a family member and police contacted Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The next day, March 24, Kenny allegedly sent a text saying she was in Memphis. DCFS interviewed her in April. On May 1, a detective contacted Kenny by phone, who told him she was in Louisiana, the prosecutor said.

The assistant public defender told the judge that Kenny has no violence in her background. Felice granted a motion to reduce the $500,000 bond and released Kenny on a $50,000 I-bond. Kenny’s next court day is Oct. 17 in Bridgeview.

"It's not the best thing in the world if it's true," Felice said.

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