Woman Charged With Endangering Welfare Of Children

Marlee Ann-Louise Schmitz is facing two misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of children in district court.

According to court documents, a deputy was dispatched on March 20 for a report of a female passed out in her vehicle in Bainville. The reporting party said that she went to the location and found two 4-year-old juveniles walking by themselves about four blocks from their mother’s residence. When the reporting party asked them where their mother [Schmitz] was, they said asleep in her car and they were unable to open the door or wake her up.

A Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office’s deputy arrived at about 11:43 a.m., and approached the vehicle that the female was reported to be in, which was still running. The deputy observed a female slouched over in the driver’s seat.

The female inside the vehicle did not respond until the deputy called out to her and shook her shoulder, at which time, the female awoke in a startled state. The deputy observed that the female’s eyes were red and glossy. There was a marijuana dispensary bag on the front passenger seat. The female denied using any drugs or alcohol that day. She said she must have been on the phone and fell asleep.

When Schmitz was asked where her children were, she told the deputy that her children were at daycare and that she had not had them all day. After being told of the report of the children walking down the street, she replied that she fell asleep and they got out of her vehicle and walked to daycare as they had done in the past.

The deputy advised the mother that the juveniles reported they came from within the residence. Schmitz then apologized and claimed multiple times that she had never fallen asleep before while the children were in her care.