Mom accused of leaving 7 kids at motel to go to Miami

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb police have arrested 29-year-old Bernadette Hester, who they said left her seven kids alone in a motel room over the weekend while she went to Miami.

Police said she left the kids ranging from 3 months old to 10 at the Extended Stay Motel on Crescent Centre Parkway.

"It's very upsetting; I think the oldest is 10," a hotel resident told Channel 2's Ryan Young.

DeKalb police got calls from motel management saying they needed help because they found the room full of kids with no food.

"After we got in the room and talked to the kids, the oldest one, being 10, advised us how we could get in touch with the mother," said DeKalb police Capt. Michael Reynolds.

"The mother was down in Miami, Fla. at the time we talked with her and the kids advised us they had been there since Saturday unsupervised."

Hester was arrested when she got back from Miami and she didn't want to talk with detectives.

Police placed the kids in Department of Family and Children Services' custody.

Reynolds said the kids hadn't eaten and police had to give them food.

"A real mother wouldn't do that. She wouldn't leave her kids like that. No, she wouldn't. Kids been in the room the whole weekend while she was out of town," a motel residents said.

As of now, Hester remains in jail facing seven charges of cruelty to children.

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WSBTV