Parents of boy left home alone, found by grandpa, expected in court Wednesday

Sheriff says parents lied about leaving toddler home alone at Harrison Township apartment

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Parents of a 1 ½-year-old boy in Harrison Township are expected to be in court for a pretrial hearing Wednesday after allegedly lying about leaving him alone in an apartment

In a statement, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said the boy's 21-year-old mother, Charelle Rickya-Robin Woods, reported him missing Thursday evening, admitting she had left him in the apartment while she worked on her broken down car. Woods said she had been checking on the boy periodically, but returned one time to find him gone, Wickersham said.

Deputies and officers from neighboring police departments brought in K-9 search dogs to look for the boy.

Woods and the boy's 19-year-old father, Aaron Diggs, were questioned by officers and eventually admitted that the child had been left alone while Diggs was driven to work in Detroit, Wickersham said.

The boy's maternal grandfather called the sheriff's office to say he had taken the boy when he had shown up to the apartment earlier in the day and found the door unlocked and the boy alone.

Wickersham said the grandfather had wanted to see how his daughter reacted and was "disgusted" when she never mentioned the boy missing during their conversations.

The grandfather also told authorities the living conditions in the apartment were "deplorable."

Diggs and Woods were taken into custody. They are charged with fourth-degree child abuse.

The boy's 3-year-old sibling was also removed from the home.