Caddo deputies have arrested the mother of a 4-year-old boy who was found walking by himself on Highway One this morning.

The boy was spotted around 10 a.m. by a motorist who was concerned for his safety and stopped to check on him. The motorist then called the Sheriff’s Office to report the incident.

The child told deputies that he left his apartment at the North Forty Apartments about a half-mile away because he was hungry and that he was headed to a convenience store for a chocolate bar. He then planned to go to McDonald’s. He said his mother was at home asleep, but he could not wake her up. 

Deputies interviewed the child’s mother, Casandre Rose, who said she had worked a night shift and taken medicine upon returning home this morning. She could not remember whether she had locked the door to the apartment. She also said she had purchased a child-proof lock for the door but had never installed it.

Sheriff’s Detective Jackie Winston arrested Rose, 27, and charged her with child desertion. Child desertion includes the criminally negligent exposure of a child under 10 to a hazardous or dangerous situation.