Mother pleads not guilty to leaving kids in car

GRAND RAPIDS (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A woman who police say left her three children in a car for hours while she played poker says she isn't guilty of a crime.

In court Monday, 39-year-old Diem Tran pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of child neglect.

Police say her three children ages five, ten and fifteen were found around one in the morning Wednesday by a passer-by who called for help in the parking lot of Woody's Press Box in Wyoming.

In court Monday morning Tran originally pleaded guilty to the charge but the judge in the case wouldn't accept the plea, believing the woman didn't understand what she was doing.

Newschannel 3's David Bailey spoke exclusively with the mother who says the kids were there for only thirty minutes.

Police say the children were left in the car for several hours while the woman played in a Texas hold-em tournament at the establishment.