http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/12/20/5435884/woman-arrested-after-baby-found.htmlA woman was arrested earlier this week after her 19-month-old son was found wearing only a soiled diaper that was covered in roaches while wandering the neighborhood near the family’s home in Pelican Bay, police said.
Tiffany Jenkins, 24, was arrested Thursday on a charge of abandoning or endangering a child, a second-degree felony, Assistant Chief Stephen Combs of the Pelican Bay Police Department said Friday.
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Combs said a woman driving through the neighborhood Monday saw something along the road. As she got closer, she realized it was a child.
There were no adults in sight and she did not know where the child lived, so she took the child to the police station.
Officers later determined that the child was found about 250 feet from his family’s mobile home on Sheri Lane North, Combs said.
At the police station, officers witnessed live cockroaches rushing out of the boy’s soiled diaper, which was his only garment.
“He was covered in dirt and feces, with roaches coming out of his diaper,” Combs said. “It broke the hearts of all my officers.”
Combs added: “We never received a 911 call or a call for service from anyone saying someone’s child was missing. But 30 minutes later, the mother showed up and said she was claiming her child.”
The woman told police she has four kids. She said one of the children injured a foot, and she went inside to attend to that child and left the 19-month-old in the yard.
Combs said Sheri Lane North is a dangerous road on which people are frequently ticketed for going 15 mph over the 20 mph speed limit.
Despite the child’s condition, he was a “bundle of joy,” Combs said.
“He was a great kid. Children are resilient. They just don’t know.”
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/12/20/good-samaritan-finds-filth-covered-baby-on-sherry-lane/Shirley Cole was driving northbound in the 1400 block of Sherry Lane on Monday at 3 p.m. when she spotted the child.
“My son said did you see the baby I was like ‘no’ and then when I looked at my rear view mirror I saw the baby,” said Cole, who lives in the area. “I was like ‘where is the mom?’ That’s all I could say… where is the mom?”
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Cole said what truly upset her was the abhorrent condition she found the baby in.
“The baby, when he was brought to the police station, had live cockroaches coming out of his diapers and crawling on his body,” said Pelican Bay Assistant Chief of Police Stephen Combs. “The people that brought him into the police department had to clean out their car because of the live and dead cockroaches. He had feces on his face; he was extremely dirty. It was a pathetic sight.”
Police said there was a pile of dead cockroaches left to clean up at the station.
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Combs said the little boy had some scrapes on his hands and knees but he was in good spirits considering his plight.
Around 3:30 pm, the baby’s mother, identified as 23-year-old Tiffany Jenkins, walked into the station and asked if anyone had found her baby. Investigators said Jenkins told them she was out in the front yard with her three other children when one of them hurt their foot.
She said she took the other kids into the house but somehow forgot about the toddler. The baby was 250 feet from the home. Jenkins also told police that she’s addicted to painkillers and had taken Vicodin at the time. Jenkins was arrested and charged with Endangering a child, a second degree felony. Her husband, who also lives at the residence, was at work at the time of the incident and is not facing charges.
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“No baby should be in the middle of the road,” explained Cole who said she was just following her maternal instinct. “I’m not a hero. I’m just looking out for a baby.”
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/12/20/baby-found-covered-in-cockroaches-crawling-across-busy-street/Child Protective Services removed the other three children — ages 9 weeks, 3 years, and 5 years — from the home and has placed them with grandparents.
Agents with CPS were forced to shake cockroaches and maggots off their clothing when leaving the residence, according to Combs.
