New Kensington woman accused of locking 2 kids out in cold, leaving toddler unattended inside

New Kensington police accused a woman of locking her two school-age children outside in the cold and leaving her naked toddler unattended with water boiling on the stove after getting drunk and falling asleep.

Police said she also spit on an officer and threatened to kill another officer and his family while being taken into custody.

Sierra Lashay Shannon, 28, of Haser Drive in East Ken Manor, was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of children and a count of assault on a law enforcement officer, which are felonies. She also faces counts of making terroristic threats, resisting arrest, institutional vandalism, harassment and failing to keep her dog inside.

She was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. She was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing Dec. 7 before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that officers responding to a 911 call Nov. 21 on Haser Drive found 6-year-old and 9-year-old childrenoutside, soaked from the rain. The temperature was 43 degrees, and it was windy, the complaint said.

The father of Shannon’s 2-year-old also was waiting outside the home and told police he could hear his child moving around inside.

After nobody responded when police repeatedly knocked, the Westmoreland County Housing Authority was contacted to have an employee unlock the door, the complaint said.

When they entered, police found Shannon sleeping upstairs. Her toddler was unattended downstairs with pots of water boiling on the stove, according to the complaint.

Shannon appeared to be drunk, police said. She started screaming at an officer who stopped her dog from escaping out the front door, telling him she “can let the dog run away” if she wants to, the complaint said.

Police said Shannon resisted being handcuffed and spit on an officer while being taken into custody.

While inside the back of a patrol car, she slipped a hand out of one of the cuffs and used it to try to shatter the window between the back and front of the vehicle, the complaint said.

She also kicked the car door hard enough to do damage, according to police.

As an officer drove Shannon to the police station for booking, she threatened to kill him and his family, the complaint said.

When an officer asked her to take a Breathalyzer test after being placed in a cell, she told him she was “drunk before, but I’m not now,” police said.

After agreeing to the test, it showed she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16%, twice the amount to be considered too drunk to drive in Pennsylvania, the complaint said.