Toddler spends 2½ weeks alone

[Phillip]

Another unbelievable story...

Toddler spends 2½ weeks alone
Girl survived on ketchup, dried pasta while mom in jail

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 29 - A 2-year-old girl survived on ketchup, mustard and dried pasta for nearly three weeks after she was left home alone while her mother served time in jail.

THE CHILD was recovering from malnutrition Tuesday and was in good condition at Wolfson Children's Hospital.

"She's sitting up in the bed and laughing and playing with the nurses," said hospital spokesman David Foreman.

The child's father, Ogden Lee, who is separated from the child' s 22-year-old mother, Dakeysha Telita Lee, said he had been trying to contact the mother for two weeks and did not learn until Sunday that she was in jail.

When a manager let him into the apartment Monday, the girl was lying in a baby's bathtub, covered with a towel and was watching cartoons.
She was filthy and covered with dry ketchup, he said.

"She grabbed me and wouldn't let go of me," Lee said. "It is really a miracle how good a shape my daughter is in. I don't know how she did it."

Lee, 33, said the girl had dragged the food, toys and other things into her mother's bedroom, where he found her.

Leaford James, who lives across a breezeway from Dakeysha Lee's apartment, said he had heard crying from the apartment "but nothing to get suspicious about."

The little girl had been left alone since her mother was jailed Sept. 10 for aggravated assault and petty theft. The mother was charged Monday with child abuse and was being held Tuesday on $20,000 bond.

Dakeysha Lee was represented by the Public Defender's Office on the original charges, but it had not been assigned the child abuse case. Her appointed attorney was not immediately available for comment.

The Department of Children & Families was reviewing the case to determine where the child should be placed.

"The child is safe in our care," said Patricia Mallon, a DCF district manager. "Our every effort is to ensure her safety and well-being."

http://www.msnbc.com/news/974067.asp?0cv=CB20

 

[Drtooth]

GEEEZ!!! Some people just flat out shouldn't have children!

The state is also a joke. They should have sent for someone after the woman was arrested!

 

[Baby Animal]

If she never told them she had a 2 1/2 yr old at home, then how would they know without doing a huge background check? And then, how would they know the ex-husband didn't have her? I think the reason she is getting charged with child abuse is the fact that she didn't tell them she had a child at home.

On a related note, how do you leave a child this young at home while you go commit aggrevated assault and petty theft? I agree. Some people shouldn't have kids. I don't really blame the state though. How were they to know she was this bad of a parent?

 

[Fozzie Bear]

This is such bunk. I think people like this 'mother' should be stuffed inside a metal box and locked in, and left in the dry heat of a desert until almost gone, then revive her, get her back to health, then send her out again.

It's like these day care places leaving kids in vans in summer heat and they die. Such a stupid mistake to be made.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!

 

[Crazy Harry]

I really don't know what to say about this one.

 

[Erine81981]

Its like my sisters exhusband leaving my neice indoors and doing something. Can't recall. He's no longer around and I'm glad. I hated that guy. I think people who have children should be put in a type of school and teaching them not to do anything bad or stupid to their children. What in the world was going through her mind at the time this happened. "How do I escape from jail to get my daughter?" Man I fell sorry for parents who have children that would forget their own kids. I think she just doesn't need to see her daughter ever again or just keep her lock her up. People theses days just aren't smart enough to take care of kids even parents. I'm glad that my parents ever did that and if they did they would at least tell some one I'm home and needs cheaking up on every once in a while or leave me money but I understand when ur that age u don't know whats happening. That just bust my bubble. I just can't think of anything else to say.

 

[Smy Guiley]

Why is it that some nice couples can't conceive and are put on huge waiting lists for adoption, yet this can happen? Having a toddler myself really brings a story like this home. I can't imagine something like this happening. It doesn't even sound real! Picture that poor child with no one to help her with anything....just crying and crying. This story makes me sick. You shouldn't have to be put in a school to learn how to be a parent. If you can look at your child and decide that this is a good idea, you should be punished severely.

 

[Fozzie]

That is sick. How could a mother do something like that?

 

[Zack the Dog]

The world's full of crazy people, and yet there are some really wonderful people out there, its just a shame that there is always more bad then good

Thankfully the little girl was alright and servied on what she had. A real trooper for a two and a 1/2 year old.

Zachary,

 

[Marble Didymus]

I'm so sick of hicks like this. Notice it's from a state in the south, which is famous for negligent parents. I'm not saying everyone's down here's like this, but a vast majority are. Stupidity like this never surprises me anymore.

My mom said the other day she saw one of the next door neighboor's 2 year old standing out in the street. She said she went over to it and it just kept saying "Kitty!" My mom takes the child back to it's apartment, and she said she could smell the pot outside the door.