A Florida mom was arrested at PortMiami on Monday after police say she left her four children, including a 2 month old baby, home alone while she went on a three day cruise to the Bahamas.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, of North Miami Beach, faces four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. That charge means the children were not seriously hurt, and in Florida it is a third degree felony. According to the arrest report, Belizaire sailed out on the Carnival Conquest on September 25 and left all four children inside her apartment with no adult to watch them. Police say the kids included the infant and a 2 year old.
Her own WhatsApp story is what gave the trip away. The baby’s father, Lether Bazile, told police that on Thursday, September 24, he saw a post on her story showing what appeared to be a Carnival cruise ticket purchase. When he spoke with her that same day, police say, she told him she would be dropping the children off with their great grandmother.
On Saturday, Bazile went to Belizaire’s apartment. Through the blinds he could see the TV on, and he could hear the children talking inside. He called 911. North Miami Beach police and Miami Dade Fire Rescue forced their way into the apartment to get to the kids, and body camera footage captured the moment officers found them alone.
Once the children were safe, investigators called their great grandmother. She told police Belizaire had said she would bring the kids over before leaving town, but she never showed up with them.
The Florida mom stayed on the ship until it returned to Miami on Monday morning. Customs and Border Protection officers took her into custody as she stepped off and turned her over to North Miami Beach police. Carnival said federal officers escorted a guest off the Conquest when it docked, called it a law enforcement matter that had nothing to do with the cruise or the ship, and referred all questions to police.
Belizaire went before a judge for her bond hearing on Tuesday. “It says she went on a cruise and left her children home alone,” Miami Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer said as she read the arrest report. The judge ordered Belizaire to have no contact with the children while the case moves through dependency court. That is the family court process that decides custody when the state steps in over abuse or neglect.
The case against the Florida mom is based on the police arrest report. Public reports do not yet say whether she has an attorney or has entered a plea.
