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5-year-old boy with autism found on roof of Pittsburgh-area home

Child with special needs climbs onto roof while mother was not home, police say
Child with special needs climbs onto roof while mother was not home, police say 02:03

A 5-year-old boy with autism was found standing on the roof of his Brackenridge home earlier this month. 

Neighbors heard the boy screaming as he got stranded on the roof after apparently climbing out of a window on July 7 at 10 p.m. 

"He was out on that back roof for a half-hour crying and screaming to get in," neighbor Carol Karadeemas said.

The 5-year-old boy was barefoot, wearing a T-shirt and had a soiled diaper, police said. His mother, Aniyah Johnson-Poindexter, was not home and had not been home since earlier that morning, according to officials. 

Officers rescued the child and took him to UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh for evaluation. 

"She comes in about 3:30 [a.m.] and she wanted to know who gave them the right to take her baby," Karadeemas said. 

Denied bond, Johnson-Poindexter faces one count of felony endangering the welfare of a child. She is in the Allegheny County Jail.

As for the little boy, he remains in the custody of Allegheny County Children and Youth Services. 

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