A Florida mother is accused of neglecting her children after neighbors allegedly discovered two unclothed toddlers wandering alone on the sidewalk near her home.
Heidy Teressa Diaz-Torres, 25, is charged with felony child neglect with no great bodily harm, according to Miami-Dade County court records. The children, aged one and three, were discovered on Tuesday by two women who saw them in the 700 block of West 37th Street in Hialeah, a city just northwest of Miami. According to local ABC affiliate WPLG, the women told officials that one of the children was able to tell them where they lived, and they walked them there.
When they arrived, they were reportedly alarmed by the response they received from the children’s mother: according to the police report, she simply “shrugged and waved them off.”
“When officers approached the residence, they saw the children walking outside unsupervised, and the mother was nowhere to be found,” the police report stated, according to WPLG. “As a result, officers entered the residence, believing the children were in further danger. Upon entering the home, [Diaz-Torres] was repeatedly asked if she knew where her children were. She did not respond.
Diaz-Torres reportedly said something when asked if she knew where her children were, but it was apparently redacted from the report. Police said she “appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance,” according to WPLG.
Those suspicions were allegedly confirmed when officials, conducting a sweep of the home, “observed two pipes with residue of suspected methamphetamine in plain view,” according to the police report.
According to WPLG, police then called the Florida Department of Children and Families, who arrived at the home.
She was arrested on Friday, booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, and released after posting a $2,500 bond. According to court records, she is scheduled to appear in court on May 23.
