Mom is arrested for leaving son, 3, alone for hours while she got cosmetic surgery
Bodycam footage captured a Florida mother being arrested after leaving her son alone for hours so she could undergo cosmetic surgery.
Jessica Renteria, 25, was charged with child neglect after Doral police found her 3-year-old son June 27 at an apartment complex at 8400 Northwest 104th Avenue.
Surveillance footage captured Renteria leaving her Airbnb apartment around 10 a.m., and a few hours later her son walking out the door with a cellphone, according to WSVN.
Neighbors called police when they found the boy in the hallway. Bodycam footage shows officers searching for his family.
“Hey, buddy, what’s your name?” said a cop. “Do you know where you live? Do you know where Papi and Mami are?”
Bodycam footage shows Jessica Renteria (pictured) being arrested while still in bandages after leaving her 3-year-old son alone while she underwent plastic surgery.
Renteria (pictured), 25, was charged with child abuse after Doral police found her 3-year-old son wandering through an apartment complex
Officers asked neighbors if they had seen the child before and if they knew who his parents were.
“You said you saw him here?” an officer said to someone. “My neighbor saw him over there. He was sleeping,” the neighbor replied.
“Hello, are you missing a child by any chance?” an officer asked another resident.
On camera, someone can be heard comparing the situation to that of Ohio mother Kristel Candelario, who left her 16-month-old daughter home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer so she could go on vacation.
“This is just like the girl, the lady, who left her daughter to go on vacation,” one officer said.
Surveillance footage captured Renteria leaving her Airbnb apartment around 10 a.m., and a few hours later her son (pictured) walks out the door
Neighbors told police they saw the boy sleeping in the hallway
Police eventually found Renteria a few miles away at an operations center. Video footage shows her being arrested in the back of a police car, wearing a robe with bandages around her head.
Arrest documents obtained by NBC Miami states that Renteria claimed a friend would babysit her son – which her friend denies.
‘He [the friend] knows the suspect, but he was never assigned to care for a minor,” court documents said.
Renteria appeared in court for a bail hearing in June, where she became emotional as the judge reprimanded her while wearing an orange jumpsuit with long braids in her hair.
Renteria (pictured) claimed a friend would babysit her son – which her friend denies
“I mean, frankly, if she has the time to deal with her own personal issues in a cosmetic surgery clinic, without any consideration for the child, then I am concerned,” the judge said.
She was released from jail on June 28 on $1,000 bond. Her hearing was scheduled for September 24, with a trial date set for December 2.