Woman arrested for leaving two toddlers in freezing RV during the snowstorm

A 24-year-old Carson City woman was arrested in the 500 block of N Street Thursday morning for two felony child abuse offenses, and two gross misdemeanor offenses for child neglect / endangerment.

According to the report, Jenna Noelle Hix was arrested following a report of two young children screaming for their mother just before 2 a.m. The reporting party stated they were unsure if the mother of the children was home.

Deputies arrived on scene and immediately “heard the voice of a small child screaming for their mommy,” according to the report. The deputies on scene reported they could hear the voice of the child extremely clearly even while parked down the street.

They approached the residence and saw an RV in the driveway and saw a small child in the window. Their body was shaking vigorously, as temperatures outside were between 30 and 32 degrees and snow was falling.

The door to the RV was wide open and there was snow build up on multiple surfaces, indicating it had been open for some time.

Deputies entered the RV and spoke with the young child, who was wearing only a light shirt. They said they had wet their pants. The deputy wrapped the child in a nearby blanket and asked where their mom was, but they couldn’t answer due to the amount of shivering.

Deputies then noticed another child who was too young to talk, standing nearby and shivering from the cold. Both had nasal discharge due to the extreme cold inside the RV, as there was no heat within the vehicle.

Deputies transferred the children to the back of their patrol unit and turned on the heat to keep them warm.

The reporting party stated that they had seen the mother, Hix, “looking for her dog” earlier in the day, but what it amounted to was the woman standing in one spot in her yard for approximately twenty minutes. The reporting party said that Hix’s behavior had been “extremely odd.”

The reporting party also stated that Hix had no car and did not drive.

DCFS was dispatched to the scene while deputies continued to try and identify the identity of the family. Deputies located a purse with Hix’s identification, along with receipts for prescription medication for the two children; however, no prescription medication was found on scene.

DCFS arrived and took custody of the children.

Deputies contacted Carson City domestic violence advocates who stated that Hix was a victim of domestic violence and it was out of her character to leave her children behind and that they were extremely concerned for her safety.

At 4:17 a.m. deputies were dispatched to a local casino advising that Hix was attempting to get inside the casino and was saying things like “Lucifer was my husband” and “I have two kids,” potentially indicating she was having a mental health crisis.

She began screaming at casino security and said her name was Jenna Hix.

Deputies arrived on scene and spoke with her, and said they’d been called to her home because her children were left home alone.

She stated she knew her children were at home, but she left them with supervision in the form of her dog. She said her dog was white, had coffee stains, and wore a black collar.

She was taken into custody for child abuse and neglect.

Later on deputies learned that a call had come in around 1 a.m. for a welfare check, as the reporting party stated there was a woman banging on their door demanding to be let inside. The woman had left her belongings at the door step, including a blue and green jacket. The description matched Hix’s description, and when deputies arrived on scene with the jacket, Hix stated it was hers.

Deputies then were able to conclude the children had been left alone for at least one hour before they arrived on scene and DCFS took custody.

All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.