43
Teen charged with leaving sisters in car pleads not guilty
BOARDMAN
Kalynn Agosto-Cruz, 18, of Victor Avenue, was charged with child endangering after police found her 1-, 4- and 6-year-old sisters in a car parked at Southern Park Mall on Wednesday morning.
Agosto-Cruz pleaded not guilty during arraignment Thursday in Mahoning County Area Court here.
Judge David A. D’Apolito released her on a summons with the condition that she has no contact with her younger sisters.
Her sisters are at home with their mother, she told the judge.
“You’re to have no contact with the minor children while this is pending,” D’Apolito said.
The judge told her if she is found guilty of the misdemeanor, she could be facing six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
She was given a court- appointed lawyer, and her next court date is pending.
When police discovered her sisters in the car, one of them told police their older sister went into the mall to have her cellphone fixed. Agosto-Cruz was met by police when she returned to the car, and told them she “was only inside for like five minutes,” according to the police report.
Police received the initial call at 10:58 a.m., and Agosto-Cruz returned to the car at 12:12 p.m. Wednesday.
Agosto-Cruz called their mother, Miriam Cruz, to come to pick up the children.
Reached Thursday night, Miriam Cruz said of her teenage daughter, “I’m just really upset about it because she knows better than that.”