MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – A Memphis couple faces charges after police say they left their four children home alone for hours.
41-year-old Tori Flowers and 29-year-old Dana Flowers face charges of child abuse and neglect, possession of drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police say they were called about 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning to check on children left alone at a home in the 5300 block of Plover Drive. According to the affidavit, the home was locked, and officers say they had to enter through an unlocked front window to find four children locked inside alone, ages 7, 6, 4, and 2.
The oldest child told officers she had not seen her parents since Wednesday. Officers say there was little food in the home, and the children were hungry. Officers found broken eggs and shattered glass on the kitchen floor, where the 7-year-old told them she tried to make breakfast.
A short time later, police say Tori Flowers returned home, and said he had left about 2:00 a.m. to find his wife and their car. He said he walked to a relative’s home, where they were supposed to be having a birthday party for his wife, and was frustrated she “was not home at a reasonable time.” He said he had asked a neighbor to check on the children.
Police say when Dana Flowers returned home, she told them she left the home about 6:00 p.m. the night before, leaving the children with her husband. She said she went to the casinos for her birthday, and did not know the children had been left alone until she returned and found her husband at the relative’s home early Thursday morning.
During a search of the couple’s home, police say they found marijuana, ecstasy, and a digital scale, as well as a loaded pistol under a couch pillow, within reach of the children.
Tori Flowers is in jail on $20,000 bond. Dana Flowers is in jail on $15,000 bond.