Judge Thomas Sumners lowered Sheena Johnson's bail from $75,000 to $50,000
EWING — A judge today ordered a mental health evaluation for Sheena Johnson, the Trenton woman whose children were found living in a Ewing self-storage locker.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Sumners said he was concerned that Johnson's mental state would lead her to shelter her sons, ages 5 and 10, in a cluttered 5-foot-by-10-foot storage space at the Extra Storage Space on Prospect Street.
“I do find it extremely egregious that she put her children in this situation,” Sumners said. “There are various social service agencies in this community that would avail her of their services.”
Johnson was charged with two-counts of second-degree child endangerment. Since her arrest the children have been placed in the care of the state Department of Children and Families.
During the hearing, Sumners lowered Johnson’s bail from $75,000 to $50,000.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Mennuti said Johnson’s sons were found left alone in the storage locker on April 18 after Johnson was arrested in Trenton on charges she slashed the tires of her ex-boyfriend’s car.
Johnson told police she and her ex-boyfriend got into an argument after he refused to take the children to school, Mennuti said.
During the arrest Johnson told police that her sons were in the storage space. Police officers went to the unit where they found the door closed and the two boys sitting in the unlocked, dark locker.
“They were in good physical health, they were relatively clean,” Mennuti said.
When police interviewed the boys, they said they had been living in the locker for a week, but Johnson told police the family had been staying there for a month, Mennuti said.
He said the family went to restrooms at local businesses to brush their teeth and use the bathroom and were eating granola bars, applesauce and other packaged foods. Johnson told police she sometimes got a hotel room or brought the children to friends’ houses to shower, Mennuti said.
Edward Belmont, Johnson's court-appointed public defender, said she was doing “the best she could” under the circumstances.
“It frankly sounds like she is being prosecuted for being poor,” Belmont said. “Children were not physically mistreated, were well fed and taken care of as best she could under pretty hopeless circumstances.”
Belmont said Johnson has been offered a place at Doorway to Hope, a transitional housing shelter in Trenton, if she is released from jail.
“If the court feels that she should not have any contact with the kids until she gets her life more stable, I certainly understand that,” Belmont said.
Johnson, who participated in the hearing by video from the Mercer County Correction Center, said she could not afford the reduced bail of $50,000 and pleaded with the judge to reconsider.
The judge assured her that her attorney would be in touch with her in the coming days, and she thanked him.
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