Manouchika Daniels, Miami, Florida mother charged with child neglect after leaving 3 year old toddler daughter in a car for hours while going to work at strip club. Girl found wandering parking lot crying.
A Florida mother has been accused of leaving her 3-year-old daughter in a car ‘for hours’ while going to work at a strip club.
Manouchika Daniels, 23, of Miami following her arrest was charged with child neglect without great bodily harm. Police said they found the 3-year-old toddler wandering in a parking lot on Tuesday.
Cops arrived on the scene around 2 a.m. on Tuesday after someone spotted a child in tears roaming around and called 911, the Miami Herald reported.
Lauderhill Police Lt. Michael Santiago in a news release said that the girl had no adult supervision and appeared to be confused. The toddler led officers to a vehicle without the engine running with the back window cracked for ventilation. Through that window, police say they saw toys and a car seat.
Police said about half an hour later, Daniels came out of the strip club and identified herself at the child’s mother.
‘She admitted that she just left the child there briefly while she dropped somebody off, but later in the case, we realized that was not the issue,’ Lt. Michael Santiago said, WPLG reported.
‘A 3-year-old is especially vulnerable in this type of situation.’
Investigators said they determined that Daniels left her daughter at around 11 p.m. Monday while she worked at Vegas Cabaret, in Lauderhill, about a half-hour from Miami.
‘I mean, she could’ve been seriously hurt,’ Santiago reiterated. ‘A 3-year-old is especially vulnerable in this type of situation. You have traffic flow on University Drive and it’s dark.’
Daniels was ordered held without bond and her daughter was taken into protective custody.
Not immediately known was the whereabouts of the child’s father and whether the woman had access to guardians or a caretaker to leave the child with.
