http://www.whas11.com/news/crimetracker/Sams-Club-180368231.html Police: Mom abandons daughter in Sam's Club, says she 'doesn't want' her by WHAS11 WHAS11.com Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:49 AM
Updated yesterday at 9:09 AM LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- It is a story that has outraged a community. A Jeffersontown mother is facing criminal charges after police say she abandoned her six-year-old child at a Sam’s Club store.
“It was the most heart wrenching thing we could think of because we were all standing there in disbelief. Is this really happening? Is she really trying to leave her child?” said witness Debbie Harbsmeier.
Police say Fengshan Huang was trying to do just that at a busy Sam's Club off Blankenbaker Parkway.
Mother and WHAS11 employee Debbie Harbsmeier witnessed the scene Tuesday night. She says the mother tried to leave the child in the back of the store.
“She was kind of pointing and gesturing and walking towards this woman. So to all of us in line clearly this woman was her mother. She was trying to go after her and the mother, with the cart, it was as if she had blinders on like she was a horse at Churchill,” Harbsmeier said.
Employees of Sam's Club took the child and tried to reunite the pair.
Witnesses say an employee came out of the Sam’s Club still holding the child. They repeatedly tried to get the woman’s attention but she kept saying "I don’t want the child anymore."
Fengshan Huang also said, "take her, call 911." Huang is charged with wanton endangerment. Neighbors who did not want to reveal their identity say they are stunned.
“She was like your normal neighbor, had it all together, very nice lady. So who knows, you know, you never know,” said a neighbor.
Her six-year-old daughter is at the Home of the Innocents. Those with the Home of the Innocents provide emergency shelter for children who are abandoned, neglected or abused.
“Even though we deal with this issue on a fairly regular basis, consistent basis, at the Home you never get over the emotional impact that a defenseless child left alone. Our heart goes out to these kids,” Brown said.
Police say Huang also has a 13-year-old son who was not at Sam’s Club at the time of the incident. He is also at the Home of the Innocents.
Huang has been bailed out of jail.
