According to a Chattooga County Sheriffs Office incident report, On December 20th, at 2:00 PM, Deputy Jared Wilks was contacted saying some small juveniles were walking down Packer Dairy Road near Stamper Drive and one of them was almost struck by a vehicle. The caller said she returned the children to where they said they lived. Deputy Wilks then found the children walking in the road again near the 500 block of Packer Dairy Road. The kids told him, “their mother told them she was leaving for the store to get food and she would be back soon.” The Department of Family and Children’s Services made several unanswered calls to the mother, Jerika Shanteria Vining, 27, of Summerville, when the deputy alerted them of the situation. Eventually, Vining answered and agreed to meet them at the sheriffs office. While being interviewed, Vining said she had been grocery shopping in Armuchee, but law enforcement found data on the phone that showed Vining had been at a Quick-stop gas station in Adairsville. During the interview, Vining uttered out, “It’s not like I was out selling myself so I could get some money.” She further stated her children had been left alone in the past while she was working. Vinings set up a placement plan with DFACS and was then arrested. Vinings was booked into the Chattooga County Jail, charged with reckless conduct x3, and child abandonment x3.
Summerville mother arrested for child abandonment and reckless conduct in Chattooga County
