Charges pending for Algonquin mom who left daughter at bar
An Algonquin mom who drove her 19-year-old developmentally disabled daughter to Tennessee and left her in a bar June 28 before driving home is facing the prospect of felony charges in Campbell County, Tenn.
A grand jury convened Friday to consider charges against Eva Cameron of flagrant nonsupport of a child and willful neglect and exploitation of an impaired adult, according to Assistant District Attorney General Scarlett Ellis. The jury did not come to a decision, instead allowing more time for an investigation before it meets again Oct. 12.
“That investigation is ongoing,” Ellis said. “There's some additional information we need to get before we can complete that.”
If charged and convicted of the felony offenses, Cameron could face a one- to two-year prison sentence as well as probation.
Lynn Cameron, 19, was returned to Illinois at the end of July into the custody of the state after a brief stint in a Tennessee facility for people with special needs. She has severe developmental disabilities and could not tell Caryville, Tenn., police her name, age or address when they first responded to her abandonment. Only after 10 days and media publicity of the case was Cameron identified. Her case was given crisis status by the Illinois Department of Human Services, which secured her immediate placement in a state-funded residential home when she returned July 26.
Eva Cameron said in a Daily Herald interview in July she was unsuccessful in an attempt to get her daughter placed in a state facility in Illinois. She heard Tennessee had good services for people with developmental disabilities, which is why she drove her daughter there.
Cameron may face local charges through the Algonquin Police Department because of her actions. Police Chief Russell Laine could not be reached Monday concerning the status of his department's investigation.