Raven Yates arrested months after abandoning kids in Texas

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A Texas mom accused of leaving her two young children to fend for themselves for two months grinned wide as she was apprehended in Alabama on Wednesday — and reportedly asked cops for permission to put on lipstick for the camera.

Raven Yates, 31, was all smiles when members of a US Marshals task force caught up with her in Mobile, where she had been living.

Stephen Carlisle, chief of police in Roman Forest, Texas, told station KTRK that officers had to break down a bedroom door inside an apartment to take Yates into custody around 4:30 p.m.

“She was photographed in handcuffs with a full smile on her face and seemingly unbothered by the charges against her for allegedly putting her own children in danger,” Carlisle said.

“I think [she] was playing for the camera. She wanted to have a smile. She wanted to look good. The arresting officer reportedly said she asked about putting lipstick on before the photo was taken.”

Yates is accused of abandoning her 12-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son at their home on Maplewood Ridge Drive in Roman Forest on Sept. 28.

Raven Yates, 31, was all smiles and camera-ready after her arrest in Alabama over allegedly abandoning her young kids in Texas for two months. Roman Forest Police Department

According to investigators, Yates threatened her daughter that if she told anyone about the alleged neglect, her dad would take the girl away and separate her from her half-brother, who has a different biological father.

Police said the 12-year-old was able to surreptitiously procure food by regularly asking her father to order takeout under the guise that Yates was tied up at work.

It was not until family members spotted Yates in Mobile in November that they alerted her daughter’s father.

Police got a call from the man on Nov. 14 reporting that his daughter and her younger brother had been home alone for nearly two months with limited access to food and medicine, according to a press release.

The father, who lived and worked in California, traveled to Texas and met cops at the house where the children were living on their own.

There was no food on the shelves or in the fridge — but the brother and sister appeared healthy.

While on the lam, Yates made frequent social media posts and shared provocative photos. KTRK
This is the home in Roman Forest, Texas, where Yates’ 12- and 3-year-old children allegedly lived alone between Sept. 28 and Nov. 14. KTRK
Yates’ posts have generated tips, one of which led a US Marshals task force to her home in Mobile on Wednesday. Roman Forest Police Department/Facebook

Both children have since been placed in the care of their grandmother in Alabama.

A warrant for Yates’ arrest was issued on Dec. 8 for two counts of abandon/endanger child without intent to return.

Over the past months, Yates has been posting on social media about the situation surrounding her children, which has generated tips and leads.

The US Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force on Wednesday followed a tip that led to an apartment complex in Mobile, where a manager confirmed that Yates had been staying with a man.

Raven Yates is facing two counts of child abandonment in Texas. FOX10 News

At the time of her arrest, Yates was photographed handcuffed in the back of a squad car with a wide grin.

The mom is being held in the Mobile County jail awaiting extradition to Texas.

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