Brookfield mom pleads 'not guilty' to three child endangering charges

A woman whose three-year-old daughter was found wandering in Brookfield early Thursday pleaded not guilty Thursday to three counts of child endangering.
Julie Gudzinas, 40, had already been charged with two counts of child endangering from an incident last month when police say her three-year-old daughter wandered from her Everett East Road home and was not found for nearly five hours.
Police dispatchers say a search began for the three-year-old after family members reported that she hadn’t been seen since 11 p.m Wednesday at her Everett East Road home.
It wasn’t until nearly 4 a.m. that someone spotted the child along Everett East Road and contacted the police. The child was returned to her home.
As a result, police filed one count of child endangering against Gudzinas in Trumbull County Eastern District Court.
During a court hearing Thursday morning. Gudzinas pleaded not guilty to that count, as well as the two other counts filed in May after her mother told police that Gudzinas left home in a van carrying the three-year-old daughter as well as her 9-month-old son, purportedly to pick up her older children at Hubbard High School.
When it was learned that the kids hadn’t been picked up at school, police put out an alert for the van Gudzinas was last seen driving.
That evening, Robinson Township Police near Pittsburgh found the mother and two children in the van, which had run out of gas.
Police say the children were sitting in their own feces and had not eaten since that morning.
Gudzinas, who told police she didn’t know how she got to Pittsburgh, further claiming she was homeless, was admitted to Trumbull Regional Hospital for a mental evaluation on May 24.
The bond for Gudzinas was set at $5,000 and she is not allowed to have contact with either of the two children.
Another court hearing is set for June 23.