A Gainesville mother was arrested after her child had 69 unexcused school absences and nine tardies during the 2021-2022 school year. Forty-two of the absences occurred from August to April of 2021, according to a truancy affidavit from Alachua County Public Schools.
Jenay Burns, 35, was arrested for failing to take her child to school. She has various traffic charges, as well as charges for four counts of child neglect and a probation violation relating to her daughter’s absences.
Burns failed to show proof to the state that she was taking parenting classes, resulting in a warrant issued for her arrest.
On Sept. 12 at around 3:40 p.m. an officer in Leon County conducted a criminal history check on Burns and found she had a warrant out for her arrest from Alachua County. The Leon County deputy sent a message to confirm the warrant, according to the arrest affidavit.
About 10 minutes later, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the warrant, and she was held at the Leon County jail before the Alachua County deputies picked her up.
Burns had several other charges attached to her name prior to her arrest.
On Jan. 23, Burns was charged with driving with a suspended license and not having the child in a car seat, according to a violation of probation form.
Burns was arrested for domestic battery on Jan. 30 after the father of their daughter, Jamal Hines, called police after a physical altercation between him and Burns.
Hines said he got into an argument with Burns over money and fidelity. Burns then grabbed a knife from an unknown area of the bedroom and slashed Hines' hands, according to the arrest affidavit.
Hines retreated to the bathroom and barricaded himself inside before calling the police.
Burns told a different story and said Hines took an unknown amount of money out of her purse and she tried to retrieve it back by going into his pockets. She said Hines then pushed her down and placed his hand around her neck, according to the arrest report.
In an attempt to escape, Burns grabbed the knife and waved it at Hines. Burns denied all of the allegations. She had no bruises or injuries while Hines had several cuts on his hands.
Hines took a 20-second video on his phone which showed Burns cutting his clothes and other objects of his found in the room. The aggravated assault charge was later dropped, according to court documents.
Burns was arrested again on Feb. 3 for driving with a suspended license and was charged on Feb. 10 for driving with an expired tag, according to court documents.
She was arrested for child neglect Feb. 21 for four counts of child neglect in Columbia County, according to the violation of probation affidavit.
Contact Jordan Ramos at jramos@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @JordanR68971799.
Jordan Ramos is a fourth-year journalism major who spends his time singing in two different choirs and his a cappella group.
