Thu, Mar 21st, 2024 - 5:10am
October 05, 2023 - 10:22pm | By Chris Larson
(Grafton, ND) — A 37-year-old Grand Forks woman appeared in Walsh County District Court in Grafton Thursday for a bond hearing.
37-year-old Ashley Marie Johnson is accused leaving her young child on the interstate on Tuesday. She faces two Class C Felonies — abandonment of a child and neglect of child; and a Class A Misdemeanor of reckless endangerment.
Walsh County authorities received a call from a concerned citizen regarding a “very young child” in a black and white spotted cow one piece on the side of I-29 near the 63rd Street overpass. The child said that “her mother dropped her off.” When deputies from Walsh County and the troopers from the North Dakota Highway Patrol arrived on scene, they attempted to speak with the child. However, the child was approximately four years old and could not give any specific information about their parents.
In Walsh County District Court on Thursday, Judge Barbara Whelan ordered Johnson to undergo a psychological evaluation and risk assessment, citing behavior the woman had exhibited recently. She was also ordered to see an addiction counselor.
Bond was not set at the hearing. Johnson remains incarcerated at the Bottineau County Jail.
If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum of five years in prison.
