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Janessa Louise Mione of Lebanon's two "children left the residence and were wandering the neighborhood unattended," the police stated in the release.
The affidavit explained that a neighbor didn't just stumble across the young girls, they knocked on her door as a possible "new home" after Mione allegedly threw them out. One girl was in a t-shirt dress and the other was in a long-sleeved t-shirt with leggings, neither had a jacket and it was around sunset on April 19 so the stranger let them in. Suddenly, the 4-year-old said she wanted ice cream and ran out of the home, so while carrying the toddler, the woman ran into the street after her, catching the preschooler, and waiting with the two girls until the police arrived.
Officer Jennifer Shoemaker arrived about 15 to 30 minutes after that scene played out, according to the affidavit.
She determined that the girls walked 3/10 of a mile or a seven-minute walk for an adult as seen on Google Maps. The sisters would have crossed or walked along several major roadways, including Grant, Lincoln, Broad, and Chestnut streets, as well as Walnut Alley, as detailed in the affidavit.
When the officer was with the girls, their mom realized they were missing, and she called the Lebanon Department of Emergency Services and then went to the home to collect her daughters. She told Officer Shoemaker she was on her computer in the kitchen and the girls were playing in the living room when they went upstairs and after it was quiet for a while she discovered they were gone. She also claimed they had changed clothes.
The police have reason to not believe this story, as in 2022 Mione pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of endangerment after two incidents of abandoning her daughters. The first time she left her youngest girl — when she was just 6-months-old — home alone, and the second time she left both girls alone in a car for 15 minutes while she went to a store for a birthday cake, according to the affidavit. She served 18 months of probation as part of a negotiated plea deal, as detailed in court documents.
She also has prior convictions for theft, conspiracy, and drug use, court records show.
On April 23, Mione was charged with two felonies for Endangering the Welfare of Children - when a Parent, Guardian, or Other Commits Offense, the police said and court records confirm.
Her preliminary hearing is set before Judge David R. Warner Jr. at 9 a.m. on May 30.
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