Miramar Beach woman arrested for child neglect

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office yesterday arrested Laura Katherine Donovan, 27, of Miramar Beach, Fla., for child neglect.

The WCSO investigation began after Deputy Thomas Thillet received information from a citizen who advised that she found an unsupervised four-year-old girl walking along Holiday Road.  The child could not locate her parents or where she lived.

Deputy Thillet invited the child into his patrol vehicle to search for her residence.  The child identified her residence approximately half a mile from where she was found by the citizen. 

Deputy Thillet asked Donovan is she was aware that her daughter was missing.  She did not exhibit signs of concern when the deputy advised her of the dangers that a child could encounter while walking half a mile away along a highway unsupervised. 

After further investigation, Deputy Thillet learned that Donovan was on probation for child neglect.  Due to the totality of the circumstances, her children were placed in the care of their grandmother and a Florida Department of Children and Families investigator.

Donovan was charged with one count of child neglect, a third-degree felony.

She was booked into the Walton County Jail.