Mom Charged With Child Neglect

by Karen Zatkulak  A 4-year-old is found wandering the street, wearing just a shirt and underwear on Monday in Athens.  Police tell us they couldn't find her mother, and that this has happened three times in only six weeks.We talked to the girl's mother, who tells us her daughter just likes to be outside.  Candace Cook says her little girl is her life, and she would never put her in harm's way.  She says she tries to watch her closely, and says this was all an accident.Meanwhile police say she should be charged and punished for neglect of her 4-year-old.Monday morning 4-year-old Jaylynn Cook was found alone, on an Athens street, wearing just a shirt and underware.  Her mother tells us her daughter somehow slipped out of their home while she was asleep.  She says a friend of her roommate's must have left the door unlocked, accidentally.  Cook says, "I watch my kid, I do anything for my kid, it was an accident."She says when she woke up and realized Jaylynn was gone, she immediately began looking for her, searching the woods around their home.  Meanwhile, someone driving by had already spotted little Jaylynn, and called police.  Captain Frank Horning tells us, "Mom is usually home, but asleep and paying no attention to where the child is at."But this is far from the first time this has happened, police reports show two other incidents in the Old Niota Road area.  Cook says, "She's a handful, she's only 4 though and she likes to be outside, a lot."Cook admits her daughter got out twice while she lived in another location, and was found walking alone on both June 22 and June 26.  Cook says police responded to those calls as well, and she put in more locks and security.We wanted to know why she wasn't charged the first two times.  Captain Horning says, "Don't know all the circumstances why it didn't happen the first 2 times."He tells us the Department of Childrens Services was called out as well, and prosecution depends on whether officers felt it was an accident.But on Monday, Cook was charged with child neglect, and her daughter was taken away.  It's a decision she says she doesn't deserve.  Cook says, "I don't know i've never hurt her, she's my life, I have to have her."