Sheena Johnson has been indicted on child endangerment charges for allegedly leaving her children unattended in a storage locker in Ewing in April
TRENTON -- Sheena Johnson was indicted yesterday on charges she left her two sons unattended in a Ewing self-storage locker where she had been living with the boys, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said today.
Johnson, 27, faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the prosecutor's office said.
Johnson had been living with her sons, ages 5 and 10, in the unheated 5-by-10-foot locker temporarily after they became homeless, she told The Times in an interview from jail after her arrest in April.
Police learned of the living situation when Johnson was arrested in Trenton on criminal mischief charges April 18 after allegedly slashing the tires on her ex-boyfriend's car, authorities said. The boys were taken from the storage locker in good health and placed in foster care.
Members of the Trenton community have rallied to help Johnson post bail and find employment and housing after her release. She has since been awarded court-supervised visitation of her boys, who are now in the care of their paternal grandmother, and is seeking to regain custody.
“It makes me feel horrible,” Johnson said earlier this week before a family court proceeding was postponed until next month. “My one son said, ‘Take more time to fill out the paperwork because we want to spend more time with you.’”
Sheena Johnson, center, outside the Trenton Marriott an hour after her release from the Mercer County Correction Center 5/18/13. At left is Olugbala Sababu, owner of the Big Easy restaurant and at right is Dan Toto, a former Assembly candidate, who worked together to secure funding for Johnson's bail. Johnson has acknowledged that she showed poor judgement by leaving the boys alone alone at the self-storage facility. The criminal indictment issued this week is separate from the family court proceedings.
“I’m not complaining, I know this is a process,” she said earlier this week. “But through this whole process, I haven’t stopped being a mother.”
Johnson also was indicted on charges she violated a restraining order by going to her ex-boyfriend's house in Trenton on the day the boys were discovered in the storage locker.
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