Mother uses donations meant for children to pay for studio time

PHOENIX, AZ (KTRK) -- The Arizona mother charged with child abuse after police say she left her children in a hot car to go to a job interview has pocketed her last dime from supporters, KTVK-TV reports.

People started feeling bad for Shanesha Taylor, 43, when police released her mugshot. It showed the single mother with two kids in tears after her arrest.

Donations started pouring in, and Taylor promised to spend the more than $114,000 she received from supporters to pull her life together.

Instead, her supporters say Taylor has done nothing to secure a job, and she's spent all the money on frivolous spending.

"She didn't go to the interviews, didn't return calls, wasn't interested in the kind of jobs we were able to bring to the table for her," local civil rights leader Rev. Jarret Maupin told KTVK.

Maupin had been Taylor's biggest supporter since her teary-eyed mug shot went viral. He encouraged others to donate to her cause. He even lined up jobs for her, but she never showed up.

"We want to see the bank statements because we see her in designer jeans, and we understand that she paid for studio time for her baby daddy's rap career," Maupin said. "That's not what people gave her that money for."

Maupin claims Taylor spent nearly $6,000 on studio time for the once-estranged father of her children. He says the father only came back into his kid's lives when he learned Taylor had made $100,000 from donations.

Along with the payment to the studio, a budget document, obtained by ABC affiliate KNXV-TV, reveals more of her spending. It included a $160 cable bill, $300 for clothes and $300 for entertainment, totaling over $4,100.

Taylor could not be reached for comment. She was expected back in court Dec. 3.