Suzanne Simon, 38, is charged with neglect of a child.
Authorities say Simon, an environmental engineer who lives in Sugar Land, got drunk on Wednesday in Key West, Florida, and left her 12-year-old son shoeless and alone on a street dotted with night clubs and bars.
When the boy was found, police arrested Simon and booked her into the Stock Island Jail, where she was being held on $5,000.
Her former mother-in-law told Eyewitness News she also has a five-year-old girl.