Child Abandonment Charges Upgraded Mom Who Allegedly Left Toddler Home Alone For Days At A Time Faces Longer Sentence

Prosecutors on Thursday upgraded the charge against a 21-year-old Auburn woman accused of leaving her toddler son alone for days at a time.

LaDawn Jump is now charged with first-degree child abandonment, which carries a sentence of between 12 to 14 months in jail, said Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County prosecutor’s office.

Prosecutors plan to ask for an exceptional sentence, he said, but have not decided what that will be.

She was originally charged with second-degree child abandonment. If convicted of that, she would have faced 3 to 8 months in jail, Donohoe said.

Jump is being held on $100,000 cash-only bail.

Fourteen-month-old Damon Jump was found Nov. 13 in an Auburn apartment by a police officer evacuating the building because of a fire in another unit.

The toddler, who suffers from a major heart defect, had rashes from his filthy diaper and a cut on his thumb, which he had sucked until it bled.

Jump, who had not seen Damon for five days, turned up later that day.

She told investigators she left her son at the apartment a month ago when she and her 2-yearold daughter, Ariel, moved in with her boyfriend, because she was afraid the man would feel crowded by both children.

Jump said she’d check on Damon every few days, leaving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheese for him to eat.

The boy and his older sister have been placed in foster care.