4 children, including 2-month-old baby, found home alone while mom allegedly went on 3-day-long cruise
Police arrested and charged Nathalie Belizaire, 29, with four counts of felony child neglect after she disembarked on Monday, Sept. 28
NEED TO KNOW
- A woman in Florida was arrested and charged with child neglect after allegedly leaving her four children home alone while she went on a three-day cruise to the Bahamas
- Police and firefighters found Nathalie Belizaire’s children, including a 2-month-old and a 2-year-old, hiding together in a bathroom in her apartment
- The infant’s father called 911 after hearing the children — who Belizaire, 29, told him would be staying with their great-grandmother — inside the apartment
A Florida mom is accused of leaving her four children, including a 2-month-old infant, home alone while she went on a cruise.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, was arrested and charged with four counts of felony child neglect on Monday, Sept. 28, when she arrived back in Miami after a three-day cruise to the Bahamas aboard the Carnival Conquest, according to a North Miami Beach Police Department arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
Police said the father of the infant saw a post on Belizaire’s WhatsApp story on Thursday, Sept. 24, depicting what seemed to be a “cruise ticket purchase.”
He spoke to Belizaire, and she told him she would be leaving the children with their great-grandmother, per police.
However, when he went to her apartment on Saturday, Sept. 26, he reported seeing the TV on and hearing the children talking inside, so he called 911.
Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and forced entry, finding all four children — including the infant and a 2-year-old — hiding together in the bathroom, per the affidavit.
Authorities spoke to the great-grandmother, who told them that Belizaire said she’d be dropping the children off with her but never brought them around, while Belizaire’s brother also told police that his sister messaged him on Saturday evening asking him to check on the children.
After police were unsuccessful in their attempts to contact Belizaire, detectives from the North Miami Beach Police Department and Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office responded to PortMiami, where she was scheduled to disembark, on Monday.
She was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and released to the North Miami Beach Police Department.
Police alleged that Belizaire “failed to provide the necessary care and supervision” for the children, “thereby exposing them to a substantial risk of harm,” and subsequently arrested the mom of four.
Per court records, she appeared in bond court on Tuesday, Sept. 29, where her bond was set at $10,000, and she was ordered to stay away from her children, who NBC reported are safe and in foster care.
Belizaire has not yet entered a plea, with an arraignment hearing scheduled for Nov. 24. However, the outlet reported that her attorney said she denies the allegations.
PEOPLE reached out to the North Miami Beach Police Department for comment but did not immediately hear back.
