Grandmother Denies Abandoning Baby While Drunk

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The grandmother who has been accused of leaving her baby abandoned in an area known for drugs prostitution denied acting inappropriately and disputed the charges in a jailhouse interview with CBS13.

Kit Samuel, 54, said she was trying to move her luggage after being evicted from a motel on Watt Avenue near Interstate 80 and set a car seat with her 5-week-old grandson down on the ground. The baby boy was left alone only as long as it took to make a second trip, she claimed.

"I was looking at him the whole time, I was only there for like, two seconds," Samuel said. "They're trying to make it like I left him out there for an hour or a long period of time."

Deputies arrested Samuel after witnesses reported that the baby had been abandoned for more than half an hour while the grandmother argued with a security guard across the street.

A bottle of brandy was found underneath the boy in the car seat, and Samuel was intoxicated when she was taken into custody, according to authorities.

"The brandy was from the night before when I was there by myself," Samuel said. "I wasn't drinking."

Samuel remains in the Sacramento County Main Jail on $60,000 bond. Her grandson is in the custody of Child Protective Services.