Two women were apprehended on child abuse charges Wednesday after police discovered a 7-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy running down a North Miami street alone after their mothers allegedly forced them outside to play and closed the door.
LaToya Garland, 40, and Mikequisha Gordan, 36, were detained following the incident near Northeast Seventh Avenue and Northeast 132nd Street, according to the North Miami Police Department’s arrest report.
Police said an officer rushed to the intersection about 6:29 p.m. when a Miami-Dade County Public Schools officer noticed the two toddlers running down the street alone.
According to the police records, the youngsters stated that they and their moms had met at an apartment in the 600 block of Northeast 133rd Street.
According to police, the children reported that Garland and Gordan pushed them to play outside before locking the apartment door.
According to the complaint, when the youngsters were weary of playing, they banged on the door numerous times but received no response.
Police stated the children were hungry and walked to a Publix at 12855 NE Sixth Ave.
According to authorities, the children were unable to obtain food at the store and attempted to walk back to their apartment when a school district officer approached them.
A neighbor told authorities she saw the youngsters playing around 5:45 p.m. and also saw one of the women in the apartment.
Officers arrived at the apartment around 6:48 p.m. and attempted to reach the occupants inside several times but received no answer, according to the reports.
Police say the neighbor phoned one of the women many times. Officers heard the phone ring inside the residence, but no one answered, according to the arrest papers.
An employee from the property was eventually dispatched to the situation.
According to the reports, authorities were concerned that the occupants were having a medical emergency and needed to enter the unit to ensure their well-being.
The employee let cops in, and police say they discovered Garland and Gordan unconscious on a sofa in the living room.
Both ladies were breathing and had a pulse, but they were slow to respond to stimuli, according to their arrest records.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and confirmed that both women were stable.
Police claimed the women looked to be impaired by an unknown substance, but the papers did not specify what, if anything, they had consumed.
Garland and Gordan were arrested on allegations of child abuse with no serious physical harm.
At around 8:20 p.m., one of the women vomited in the back of a marked patrol vehicle. According to reports, Garland and Gordan were first taken to the North Miami Police Department before being transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
As of Thursday afternoon, both ladies remained in custody. According to online jail records, their bail are still “to be set.”
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