Mom arrested for little one neglect after 4-year-old discovered alone, unattended in Miami Seaside condominium – WSVN 7News | Miami Information, Climate, Sports activities

MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – A woman was taken into custody on charges of child neglect after her 4-year-old daughter was found alone and unattended in their Miami Beach apartment.

Christina Capriola, 33, was arrested on Monday following reports from concerned bystanders who spotted a young child wandering around the rear of a building located at 751 Euclid Avenue without any shoes on.

Officers were dispatched to the scene in response to the passerby’s call for help. Upon arrival, a witness on the scene informed the officers that she had noticed the child by the window of unit number 2. The minor approached the witness, requesting her presence while her mother was at work. The witness observed the child wandering in the alleyway without shoes and noticed a phone number written on the minor’s arm. The child told the witness that her mother was at work and that the number on her arm was her mother’s contact information.

The witness immediately contacted the police to report the situation, prompting officers to locate and interact with the minor around 11 a.m. behind her apartment. The child revealed to the officers that she had been left home alone and that her mother had left her unattended on multiple occasions in the past.

According to the child, they had recently moved to Miami Beach from Pennsylvania just two days prior.

According to the arrest report, when officers initially encountered the child in the alleyway, she appeared to be soiled. Furthermore, detectives at the Miami Beach Police Station observed that the minor was without underwear.

Officers inquired about the child’s well-being, to which she mentioned having eaten chicken nuggets and cookies earlier in the day. Upon entering the apartment, an officer observed various boxes with miscellaneous items, chips and orange juice in the refrigerator. The child disclosed that she was not attending school.

Police contacted Capriola, who stated that she had planned to leave her daughter with a man that she had met the previous day near 12th Street and Meridian Avenue. Capriola claimed to have spent the day with the man and her daughter but failed to provide adequate supervision for her child’s well-being.

Capriola was taken into custody and later transported to the Miami Beach Holding Facility for further processing and questioning by detectives. She was then transferred to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for booking and further processing. The child has been placed in appropriate care and the investigation continues.

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