Unresponsive mother arrested after leaving infant inside car
Doa Ana County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a remote desert area northeast of Las Cruces just before 2 p.m. Thursday after two teenagers reported seeing a young woman who appeared to be passed out next to her vehicle. An infant was sleeping inside the car.
The woman was later identified as Rokki Howard, 24. According to investigators, Howard appeared intoxicated and became combative when deputies tried waking her.
She had allegedly driven her car to the intersection of Eclipse and Devil’s Claw Road, just off Del Rey Boulevard in the village of Doa Ana. Howard reportedly told investigators she had been drinking.
Two 15-year-old boys who were riding off-road ATVs in the area saw Howard and reported the suspicious activity to 911. According to the teens, the windows were down in Howard’s car and loud music was playing inside. An infant girl was reportedly sleeping in her car seat with a soaked diaper that had seeped through her clothes.
Howard was arrested and charged with child abuse and resisting arrest. She was booked into the Doa Ana County Detention Center where she was later released on a $2,000 unsecured bond.
