Mother charged with leaving three toddlers unsupervised

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WILKES-BARRE — City police charged a woman with leaving three children unsupervised inside an apartment on South Main Street on Saturday.

Nakyah Zyonnah Belle, 24, was arraigned by District Judge Alexandra Kokura Kravitz of Pittston on three counts of endangering the welfare of children. Belle was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police responded to an apartment in the 200 block of South Main Street for a 911 hang-up call at 3:13 p.m. As officers made their way to a second floor hallway, they heard children screaming behind an unlocked, closed door to an apartment.

A 5-year-old child wearing no clothes opened the door resulting in officers observing two toddlers, 10-months and 1-year, in a playpen.

The two toddlers were wearing soiled diapers, the complaints say.

Police verified the three children were left alone without adult supervision.

A caseworker with Luzerne County Children and Youth Services took protective custody of the children.

Belle called police at 4:47 p.m. inquiring why officers were at her apartment, the complaint says.

When police came in face-to-face contact with Belle, she claimed she went to a store to purchase formula but she was not carrying formula, according to the complaint.

Belle further claimed a neighbor she only knows as “Amy” watched her children through the door.