Ky. man charged after 4-year-old found walking on a highway at night, deputies say

A Kentucky man was arrested over the weekend after deputies found a 4-year-old walking alone on US-25E at night, according to the Knox County sheriff’s office.

Deputies got a call about the small child walking about 2 miles north of Barbourville around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the sheriff’s office. The caller said the child was walking on the white line of the road and nearly got hit by a car, according to deputies.

Deputies located the child, found out where he lived and went to his home.

“When the deputies went to the residence, they were told by the father that 62-year-old Darrell Myrick of Gray, had been left in charge of the child while the mom was away,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post.

Myrick was arrested and charged with wanton endangerment, according to court records. He was held in the Knox County Detention Center on a $2,500 bond, according to jail records.

He was arraigned Monday morning and is scheduled to have a pretrial conference in Knox District Court on July 6, according to court records.

The child was returned to his mother, according to the sheriff’s office. A report was filed with Child Protective Services regarding the incident.