Mother, accused of neglect for leaving children with dad, must face trial
BY BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A Tulsa woman must face trial on an allegation that she neglected her three children by leaving them in their father’s care.
Tulsa County prosecutors assert that Erin Elizabeth Lewallen failed to provide proper supervision because she left them in the care of her husband, William Todd Lewallen, at a Tulsa residence while she was at work on Nov. 11.
A preliminary hearing for the Lewallens began Jan. 16, when there was testimony about one child being naked in the cold and another being locked in a dog cage.
Two weeks ago, Special Judge David Youll ordered William Lewallen bound over on a charge of neglecting the children — two 3-year-olds and a 1-year-old — at a residence in the 4900 block of North Frankfort Place.
Youll issued his order regarding Erin Lewallen on Wednesday, and she will also face trial on a neglect charge.
Prosecutors allege that she reasonably should have known that leaving the children in their father’s care would put the children at risk, based on her knowledge of his criminal history and history of substance abuse.
William Lewallen, 48, is in the Tulsa Jail. Erin Lewallen, 27, is free on bond.
