Bayfield woman faces charges of child neglect, abandonment

A Bayfield woman is accused of leaving the scene of an accident earlier this month, and authorities say she left her children behind in the process.

Kasie Gokee, 32, is charged with two counts of child neglect, two counts of child abandonment and two counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety.

If convicted, Gokee faces a maximum of nine months for each child neglect charge, 10 years for each child abandonment charge and 10 years for each second-degree recklessly endangering safety charge.

According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement received a report on June 14 that children were left unattended in a vehicle parked at the Bayfield Inn around 12:42 a.m.

A nine-year-old told law enforcement that her mom, Gokee, was driving in Bayfield when she hit another vehicle. Gokee then left the vehicle and never returned.

The girl said she and her brother, 5, were in the vehicle for about an hour until a friend of her dad’s saw them.

Gokee’s daughter said her mom had been drinking at a bar in Bayfield earlier that day.

Gokee told law enforcement that she took medication including cyclobenzaprine and hydroxyzine that evening. She had been attending a “ghost feast” at the bar for a relative who had passed away. Gokee said she did not remember much from that evening. She admitted that “she could have killed someone and does not remember hitting the other vehicle,” according to the complaint.

She has an initial appearance scheduled for Aug. 6.