Hello, my name is Halleigh Ritter. I'm a 23-year-old single mom of a baby boy who's about 10 months old now. I've come to you in desperate need. I've been embarrassed to admit this to anyone, and I've gone through all my options.

About a year and a half ago, I was on military orders for the Air Force. I had some fur babies I had to leave at home during this short amount of time. I had someone watching them, but somehow they confused the dates and didn't watch them for over a week! Unfortunately, it resulted in a few of them passing away due to no one feeding or giving them water. The parent of my sitter wrote an awful statement against me saying it was my fault, even though I had proof of them agreeing to the dates. Me being on military orders didn't mean anything in court. Everyone told me how unfair that was. I was away serving our country, yet I'm the one facing the crime I wasn't even physically there to commit. Around the same time that this court process started, I found out I was pregnant. My lawyer tried everything he could to get this squared away so that I could keep my baby. For those who don't know, animal cruelty is a felony in the state of California, meaning I was facing possible jail time if I was found guilty.

After a brutal year of this legal process, I was offered a plea deal. I could accept the misdemeanor and pay a bunch of fees, or I could go to trial. My lawyer convinced me that taking the deal was the better option. However, at the time I agreed to the deal, I had no idea that it was going to cost me $30k in legal fees/fines. I would've gone to trial and fought this had I known what it was going to cost me. The court didn't budge on the price either, even with being a single mom working 10 hours a week while trying to go to school. I finally admitted all this to my family, and they suggested a GoFundMe. I understand these times are hard on everyone financially, but any little bit helps. $1 is $1 closer to my goal. Even if you don't donate, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story!

God bless you all!