Neighbors reveal odd clues after mother arrested for leaving 7-year-old to decompose in closet

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A judge denied bond Wednesday for a mother accused of leaving her 7-year-old daughter in an apartment closet.

The mummified remains of Alivia Hobbs was found by a neighbor last week at the Hidden Valley Apartments in DeKalb County.

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Her mother, Alondra Hobbs, was arrested on murder and child cruelty charges after police said she rolled the child into the closet in a stroller and left her there for months.

It’s unclear if Alivia was alive when she was abandoned. Police said Hobbs had no intention of returning to the apartment.

Channel 2′s Tom Jones was at the scene Wednesday, where he talked to neighbors who were angry.

“If you don’t want a child, give it away,” Catherine Costello said.

Jones did some digging and found that three years ago, Hobbs was charged with simple assault family violence and other charges for scratching her husband and throwing a toolbox at him.

She was ordered to take anger management and parenting classes and put on 12 months of probation.

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Jones talked to several neighbors who did not want to be identified who said they saw Hobbs but never saw the child.

“She used to tell us like that other people got her, like the daddy side,” a neighbor said. “Or like her family. She’ll be like, ‘The daddy side of the family have her.’”

That neighbor said she did see the child two or three times. She said she noticed something was odd earlier this year when Hobbs started talking about committing suicide.

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“Everybody like, ‘Why you want to kill yourself?’ She never said. But she never let you in her apartment. Never,” the neighbor said.

Neighbors said Alivia didn’t deserve to die like that.

“This was a beautiful little girl,” a neighbor said.

Hobbs will have an opportunity for bond if her attorney files a motion for one or during her preliminary hearing.

GoFundMe set up to help bury 7-year-old girl left to decompose in closet in DeKalb County

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