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OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (Gambling911.com) - A Florida couple has been charged with leaving their three children in a parked vehicle while they went inside to gamble at the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
The children’s mother, Lillian Mun, and her fiancé, Terrence Wright, were charged with child neglect and leaving children unattended in the hot Jeep without access to food or water.
Casino security found the children at 1:30 am Sunday November 1, according to the criminal complaint.
The responding officers wrote that the children were left in the vehicle for approximately one hour “with the windows up,” according to the complaint. “The outside temperature was 76 degrees Fahrenheit with 89 percent humidity".
Wright, 42, arrived back at the Jeep first, police reported, and claimed that he and Mun, 32, went into the casino to use the bathroom. She claimed to have stayed with the children while Wright went in to use the restroom. Mun went on to claim the Jeep turned off because Wright had the keys and she only went in to find him, per the affidavit, leaving the children alone inside the car for approximately 20 minutes.
Surveillance footage told a different story however.
The couple arrived at 11:10 p.m. on Saturday and Wright went inside, per the affidavit. Mun reportedly followed at approximately 12:38 a.m., with the affidavit stating she was seen on camera three minutes later watching Wright at the slot machines and using her phone. Mun then went to go play the slot machines.
A friend of Mun's now has custody of the children while the Department of Children and Families conducts its own investigation.
Mun appeared in court Monday and was denied bond for violating probation stemming from previous charges of felony grand theft and retail theft.
Wright’s bond was set at $22,500. He has since been released.
Neither has entered a plea as of Wednesday.
Just last week, Gambling911.com reported on a mother who left her 4-year-old daughter at a truck stop late at night before heading off to a nearby casino with her two other children.
Kayla Marie Christensen was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree child abandonment and two counts of first-degree child endangerment, court records show. Police said Christensen intentionally left the 4-year-old at the truck stop and did not plan to return for her. When approached by officers, Christensen reportedly told them "I don't have a daughter."
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
