According to police reports, the boy wandered around the vacation rental complex for six hours. Subsequently, the mother was located by authorities at a surgical facility, where she was taken into custody still wearing a head wrap.
Newly-released bodycam footage shows the moment a Florida woman was arrested, after allegedly leaving her 3-year-old son by himself in a vacation rental while she went and got plastic surgery.
The incident went down in Doral back in June, after neighbors reportedly called police about a child who was wandering alone around an apartment complex.
Citing an arrest report, WSVN reports the boy’s mother was seen leaving their Airbnb at 10:12am, before the boy later exited the same unit at 1:13pm. At 4pm, he was found sleeping on a neighbor’s doorstep and police were called.
Investigators say he was alone for around six hours.
“Do you know where Papi and Mami are?”
Doral Police are seen responding to a wandering toddler, whose mother left him alone, so she could get plastic surgery. Arrested was Jessica Renteria, 25, who goes by “The Real Pocahontass” on social media. @wsvn @jholly #Exclusive story: pic.twitter.com/8U6HtCfTjQ
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) August 29, 2024
Bodycam footage from responding officers — also via WSVN — sees them asking the boy for his name, as well as whether he knew where he lived and where his parents were.
They then begin going around the complex, asking neighbors if they were “missing a kid,” trying to find out where he came from.
As officers spoke with neighbors, someone can be heard saying, “This is like the girl, the lady, that left her daughter to go on vacation” — likely referring to Kristel Candelario, the mother sentenced to life in prison for murder after baby girl died when left alone as she vacationed in Detroit, Michigan and then Puerto Rico.
Renteria was later found at a surgery center a few miles away, reported WSVN, where she was placed into handcuffs while her head was still wrapped, presumably from whatever work she had done inside. She allegedly told police she told a friend to watch her son for her, though he denied ever being told to take care of the child.
Renteria was charged with child neglect.
During a bond hearing back in June, the judge was seen saying, “If she had time to take care of her own personal issues at a cosmetic surgery center, without regard to the child, I’m concerned about any supervision.”
The judge said supervision rights would be in the hands of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Renteria was released from jail on June 28 on a $1,000 bond; her trial is set for December 2.
If you are experiencing or witness child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
