Mom 'attached at the hip' to 9-year-old nonverbal son left him for 17 hours alone while she spent the night somewhere else: Cops

['Jamie Frevele', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] Law & Crime 2025-09-23 16:48:24

A Florida woman is accused of child neglect after her nonverbal son was found by himself, which her father said was "extremely abnormal." Melissa Marie Luckett, 31, posted $5,000 bond after she was arrested on Saturday, after her neighbors allegedly found her 9-year-old son by himself. When the boy kept running toward the road, the neighbor tried to stop him, but soon realized he might have special needs or was nonverbal, police said. Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox. She was charged with one count of child neglect with no great harm and posted bond on Monday.