Iowa Mother Abandons Son on Roadside, Couldn’t Be Late to Work

33-year-old Shameka King of Council Bluffs, Iowa is facing charges after she left her 12-year-old son on the side of a road because he threw a tantrum. She didn't want to be late for work.

An officer was dispatched to an on-ramp for I-80 after reports of a boy walking alongside ramp at 6:30 in the morning. When the officer asked the boy what he was doing, he said he was walking to the America Inn. The boy lives there with his mother, and she was at work.

The boy then said he was alone because he had got into an argument with his mom over which shoes and socks he wanted to wear. Then on the way to school, he threw a tantrum and got out of the car.

The police report says, “King realized her son was throwing a tantrum and said she did not have time for it. King took off westbound on I-80 into Omaha.”

The boy thought she was bluffing and tried to chase the car as she drove away. When she didn't stop, the boy decided to walk home.

“What am I supposed to do? Be late to work?” King told police after they got her number from the boy.

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