A mother is facing neglect charges after her child was found wandering alone around their Doral apartment looking for food, police said.
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Roxanabel Medinaleon, 31, was charged with two counts of child neglect and one count of animal cruelty after officers found her apartment “in disarray,” with little to no food, and with her dog confined in a cage, police said in an arrest report.
A witness told police that he found the child wandering around the apartment parking garage on Thursday at 3 a.m. The child told the witness that his mother was at her boyfriend’s apartment and that he had been left alone, the report said.
Later that morning, the child came to the building’s lobby and asked for any food and water because there was no food in his apartment, investigators said, prompting the witness to contact law enforcement.
During a walkthrough of the apartment, officers found little to no food in the fridge and cabinets, the floors were dirty, and the place smelled of urine and feces, the report said. There was no furniture in the bedroom except for a mattress on the floor.
Officers also found the dog’s cage and its food and water bowls empty, the report said. The child reported that he shares his food with the dog and that it hasn’t eaten regular dog food in months.
The child told officers he has a 4-month-old sibling and that he often has to wake up his mother because the baby cries and she does not hear him, the report said. Officers also found his baby bassinet, which appeared soiled.
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The child reported that his last meal was at 8 p.m. the night before, and he became so hungry the next morning that he went to his mother’s boyfriend’s apartment and knocked on the door to attempt to wake his mother for food, police said. She did not answer.
Police went to the boyfriend’s apartment, and Medinaleon answered the door, holding the infant brother, the report said.
During questioning, Medinaleon told officers that she had last cleaned the apartment this week, constantly feeds her son and left the dog food the night before, the report said.
Medinaleon was arrested and appeared in bond court Friday, where she appeared visibly upset and crying when a judge ordered her to stay away from her children. Miami-Dade Animal Services took custody of the dog.
Medinaleon remains in jail as of Friday afternoon, where she’s being held on a $5,500 bond, records showed.
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