Fairfield Mom's Abandonment 'Upsetting As A Murder,' Judge Says

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Fairfield mother accused of abandoning her 5-year-old child on a rainy Bridgeport street corner was arraigned Monday before a judge who said the situation was “as upsetting as a murder case.”

Sharon Williams, 41, faces several charges in connection with allegations that on March 31 she pushed her young son, who has disabilities, from a car and drove away, leaving him at the intersection of Burroughs and East Main streets, according to authorities.

“The amount of damage that causes to that child, physically, mentally, I find this as upsetting as a murder case, honestly,” Judge Tracy Lee Dayton said in a recording of the court appearance provided by the state’s Judicial Branch. “This is a helpless child with special needs.”

Williams was taken into custody Friday after police embarked on a public outreach effort to find the boy’s family, as his disabilities prevented him from identifying himself, according to law enforcement. Williams initially told police her son was with relatives and then with a friend, before confessing to abandoning the boy, according to the Connecticut Post.

“The state may be pursuing greater charges here, such as attempted murder,” said prosecutor Pamela Esposito, who noted a neighbor saw Williams putting her son’s items in the garbage.

Williams was initially charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, cruelty to persons, risk of injury to a minor, abandonment of a child under age 6 and leaving a child under age 12 unsupervised, according to police.

Dayton issued a protective order against Williams that prevents her from contacting her son, who was placed in the care of the Department of Children and Families.

“Wherever he is, you need to stay away from there,” the judge said.

Williams’ attorney, C. Christian Young, said Williams, who has no criminal record, had experienced a PTSD relapse after her son awoke her in the night with “physical contact.” The Post reported the boy had attempted to strangle his mother.

“This is a mental health issue, this was a psychiatric break,” Young said. “Everyone who’s known her is shocked.”

Williams served in the National Guard and has worked in ophthalmology, real estate and as a life coach, according to Young, who said she was also a foster parent for her sister’s two children and has another child of her own, who is 17.

“Prior to this she had devoted herself to her family and her children’s welfare,” Young said in an interview after Monday’s arraignment. “This wasn’t premeditated, it wasn’t pre-planned, it wasn’t calculated. … It’s definitely a mental health situation as opposed to a heartless parent.”

Dayton opted to keep Williams’ bond at $250,000 rather than lower it, despite requests from the bail commissioner and from Young that it be dropped to $100,000 and from Esposito that it be set at $150,000. Williams was also ordered to contact the bail commissioner’s office and undergo mental health treatment should she post bond, which the Post reported she did Monday afternoon.