Hawkeye woman arrested on 10-counts of Child Endangerment and a Fredericksburg man arrested after traffic stop

On the afternoon hours of 1-29-26, the Fayette County Sheriff's Office received a report of a 7-year-old child being left home alone after 9:00PM all night, alone at an address in the City of Hawkeye.  While patrolling the area, a Fayette County Deputy observed a vehicle leaving the address at 9:30PM, and it was verified that a child was left home alone.  During the investigation process, it was found that Kari Lynn Youngblut, 44 of Hawkeye, had on numerous occasions since the summer of 2025 left a 7-year-old child home alone all night while travelling to work, for 8–10-hour periods.  Youngblut was arrested and charged with 10 counts of Child Endangerment, all aggravated misdemeanors.  Youngblut was transported to Fayette County Jail, where she awaited initial appearance. The minor child is safe at this time.  This case is ongoing and there could be more pending charges.   

On January 28th, 2026, at 8:04PM, a Fayette County Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Black 2012 GMC Yukon Denali at the intersection of Lincoln Rd. and Lion Rd. for an equipment violation. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that 24-year-old Francisco Javier Coronel Mejia of Fredericksburg, was driving on a suspended license. Francisco was placed under arrest for Driving While License Suspended and transported to the Fayette County Jail where he awaited an initial appearance in court.