A Florida mother was arrested after leaving her 3-year-old son unsupervised at an apartment complex while she was miles away undergoing a cosmetic procedure. Neighbors in Doral, Florida, called police on June 27 after noticing the child wandering around unsupervised with only a cell phone. A resident called 911 after finding the child sleeping on her doorstep.
Police body camera footage captured their interaction with the boy and their attempts to locate his parents. “Hey buddy, what’s your name? Do you know where you live? Do you know where mommy and daddy are?” one officer asked. Officers went door to door in several apartments, asking residents if they were missing any children.
According VSNOne neighbour referred to a previous case, saying: “It’s like the girl, the lady who left her daughter to go on holiday.” Online viewers expressed outrage at the mother’s behaviour, with comments such as: “Unbelievable, believe me this wasn’t the first time she did this” and “What the hell?! 3 years old? Going to get your face cut off? Unbelievable.”
Police eventually found the boy’s mother, Jessica Renteria, 25, at a nearby surgical center. Renteria claimed she had left the boy in the care of a friend while she underwent the procedure, but the friend denied this, telling officers she “knows the defendant but was not asked to watch the child.” Inside edition reported.
Renteria, who had bandages on her face from the procedure, was taken into custody and charged with child neglect. Police later learned she had been staying at an Airbnb in Doral with her son and had left him alone for six hours. Surveillance footage showed Renteria leaving the vacation rental at 10 a.m., and three hours later, her son was seen walking outside. Police were not called to the scene until 4:15 p.m. Renteria was released from jail on $1,000 bail and is scheduled for trial on Dec. 2.
