Alabama Mother Hassanah Smith Arrested After Leaving 5-Year-Old Autistic Son and Teen Alone in Hotel for Days Without Food

A woman providing conflicting whereabouts to officers during a phone call with her child, citing locations ranging from a local store to Tennessee and eventually Atlanta.

A 33-year-old Alabama mother is facing criminal charges after police say she abandoned her two sons — one of them a 5-year-old non-verbal child with autism — in a hotel room for at least an entire weekend without food or supervision.

Hassanah Smith was arrested in Daphne on two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after concerned staff at the Comfort Suites, located roughly 13 miles southeast of Mobile, contacted authorities. According to Daphne Police Chief Brian Gulsby, hotel workers noticed the children wandering unsupervised on Saturday, Aug. 2, and learned they had not eaten all day.

When officers arrived, they spoke with the older child, a 15-year-old, who managed to reach his mother by phone. Smith initially told officers she was at a store, later claimed she was in Tennessee, and eventually mentioned Atlanta. The Department of Human Resources allowed the boys to remain at the hotel under the assumption that Smith would return that night, but she never did.

By Sunday morning, the situation worsened when the younger boy was found in the hotel pool without adult supervision. Officers returned, and on both days, they purchased food for the children. Smith finally arrived around 4 p.m. Sunday, nearly two full days after first being contacted.

Police later discovered the neglect was not an isolated event. Since checking into the hotel on July 27, the children had reportedly been left alone for hours or even an entire day at a time.

“This wasn’t a one-time mistake,” Gulsby said. “It was a pattern.”

Smith was taken into custody and booked into the Daphne Municipal Jail on a $2,000 bond. The Department of Human Resources is now involved in the children’s welfare, but officials have not disclosed where the boys are currently placed.