A Broward County judge gave a penniless mother a priceless gift this week: freedom.
Angel Smith, 41, had been arrested for leaving her two children in a hot car for two hours while she gave blood to earn money to feed them, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
She was paid around $30 for giving blood, but when she left the center, cops were waiting.
A security guard at the blood donation clinic saw the children - ages 4 and 7 - alone in the car and called police, who arrested Smith on child neglect charges. The children were unharmed and are in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
But Judge John Hurley said that life had given the desperate mother enough hard times and that she didn't deserve to serve hard time. Smith was living out of a hotel and had just been laid off.
Smith told Hurley she had $28 in the bank.
"I realize it's difficult for you, I'm not trying to be hard on you. I knew when I read this (affidavit), life is not easy for you," Hurley said before choking up and nearly crying on the bench. "I don't look at you as a criminal, all right, but at the same token, ma'am, you can't leave your children in the car, that length of time, unattended."
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Smith was released from jail with no bond, but her charges currently still stand.
"You think you have it tough," Hurley told attorneys in his courtroom. "This woman has to donate her plasma to try and support her kids."
