Jacksonville mother fights to get children back after being charged with child neglect

A local mother is charged with child neglect and her four children are in DCF custody.

Police, who were called to the home on Pearl Street for a domestic incident, said the woman’s home was dirty and without heat, even though temperatures were in the 30s.

“I love my children, my children are my world,” said Nancy Parker, 30.

Parker said she’s a good mother, despite the child neglect charges she now faces.

According to a police report, there was leftover food and trash all throughout the North Shore home, and shards of glass in the kitchen and dining room.

Police said the bassinet where the baby sleeps was filled with clothing, plastic, old food and debris, and feces was smeared on the kitchen floor.

“It wasn’t OK because there wasn’t no lights,” she said.

Parker said on Friday night she was trying to get her kids to a shelter because the power was out. The temperatures were in the 30s that night.

“They only been living here without power for two days,” said Parker.

But as she was trying to take them there, she said she was stopped by the father of her kids and they got into an argument .

“When I got home to take my kids to a homeless shelter, my children’s father had done started fighting me,” she said.

Now Parker said she’s doing all she can to get her kids back.

“I come from DCF, I know what it’s like on the other side. And as a mother, I’m going to do everything in my power and in my condition to get my children out of DCF,” she said.

Neighbors tell Action News Jax Parker and a man at the home are always fighting and the kids always seem sad.

Despite the charges, Parker said she is a good, hard-working mother.

"I strive hard for my children, as a single parent... this is embarrassing," Parker said.

Cox Media Group