ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Woman allegedly leaves six children unattended

MERCEDES — Police have arrested a woman accused of leaving her six children alone for hours inside a filthy apartment last week, officials said.

Mayra Daniela Garcia, 30, faces six counts of abandoning and endangering a child with intent to return.

Officers went to the woman's residence Monday night after receiving a call about a group of unattended children there, Mercedes Police Chief Olga Maldonado said.

About 9 p.m. the officers knocked on the door of the home, located at the Mercedes Hotel Apartments complex on the 200 block of Missouri Avenue, the chief said.

"There was a lot of commotion, footsteps," she said.

A group of children, ranging in age from about 1 to 12, answered the door told officers they had been there alone since 5 p.m. that day.

Soiled diapers and garbage littered the apartment, the chief said.

"There was rotten, moldy food," she said. "It looked like someone had ransacked the place."

Authorities removed the children from the home, but the chief refused to say where they are at this time.

Officers arrested and jailed Garcia after she went to the Mercedes police station about 11 p.m. Monday to look for her children.

She is currently being held at the Hidalgo County Jail in lieu of a $30,000 bond.

Abandoning and endangering a child with intent to return is a felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail and a possible fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction.