A Chattooga County woman was arrested on December 20th after sheriff’s deputies found her children walking on Packer Dairy Road in the Gore area.  The children told the deputy that their mother had gone to the grocery store, but that turned out to be untrue.

According to a report from the sheriff’s office, Chattooga County DFCS was called about the three young children, and deputies later located the woman – identified as twenty-seven-year-old Jerika Vining.  Vining initially said that she was at the grocery store in Armuchee, but in fact, deputies determined she was at a convenience store in Adairsville.  The woman reportedly told deputies “it’s not like I was out selling myself to get some money.”

The sheriff’s office allowed Vining to make arrangement with the Department of Family & Children’s Services for someone to come and take care of her children.  She was booked into the Chattooga County Jail on charges of child abandonment and reckless conduct.