FL - Toddler left home alone for 3 week's while Mother sits in jail.

Wow, this is one smart little girl! I feel so badly for her, but I'm also extremely proud of her. I sure hope her dad gets custody of her now. She must have been so happy to see somebody when he came in.
 
I'm not ready to give him Dad of the Year award, where has he been???
 
From the article:
"The child's father, Ogden Lee, who is separated from the child's 22-year-old mother, Dakeysha Telita Lee, said he had been trying to contact the mother for two weeks and did not learn until Sunday that she was in jail."

The child is lucky. You can make yourself really sick with too much mustard. She mujst have preferred the ketchup.
 
The poor little darling. God was certainly looking after her. I can't believe her mother knew she was home alone and didn't care. That is a long time for a two year to be by herself.
 
Originally posted by Arielle
Wow, this is one smart little girl! I feel so badly for her, but I'm also extremely proud of her. I sure hope her dad gets custody of her now. She must have been so happy to see somebody when he came in.


Well, this is definately one for the "better late than never" category. However, I do hope that the mother's parental rights are dissolved after this stunt. She's SO lucky this little girl didn't die. It was a miracle if you ask me.
 
(Jacksonville, Florida-AP) Oct. 1, 2003 - The two-year-old girl who was left home alone for more than two weeks has been released from a Florida hospital after being treated for dehydration and malnutrition. She went home with her father on Wednesday.

Police say the child was left alone by her mother, who was in jail. The girl survived by eating ketchup, mustard and dried pasta. A hospital spokesman is saying only that she's in good condition.

The girl was found on Sunday by her father, Ogden Lee, who became suspicious after trying to reach the mother for two weeks. He says she was lying in a baby bathtub, covered with a towel and dried ketchup and jelly watching cartoons. He tells The Florida Times Union the girl grabbed him and wouldn't let go.

Lee is separated from the girl's mother. He has been granted temporary custody. Wednesday's order allows him supervised visits with his daugther, but the child legally remains in state custody.

Lee told the paper the child ate four pieces of chicken, a cheeseburger, mashed potatoes and Cheerios while in the hospital. The girl also drank two pints of milk. He says he can't stop crying when he thinks about his daughter's ordeal. As he puts it, he can't "even imagine how hungry she must have been."

Police say the girl's mother, Dakeysha Telita Lee, 22, was jailed on September 10th for aggravated assault and petty theft. She's now been charged with child abuse and is being held on $170,000 bond.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1464812
 
It's hard to imagine a little 2 year old being all alone, hungry and scared - what a smart little girl. Thank God she is alive - hopefully, her mother will never have the opportunity to abuse her again.
 
I hope the mother is put away for a good long time for this.

I have a granddaughter that just turned 3 in September. When I think of her being alone and being so scared, maybe trying to turn a light on at night. At her age now she knows where the swiches are but asks us to turn on the light in her room when wanting to watch cartoons since she's no quite tall enough. So, thinking that she might try and find something to climb on while all alone to turn on the lights and wondering how scared she must be and what she could be thinking is overwhelming for me.

I used to admire Toth for for his ability to stand against the majority and never back down. Now I think he is one of those who stands against the majority just for his own personal kicks, regardless of what the subject matter may be. My own brother is this way and a lot of it is for shock effect and a bitterness inside.
 
Awww.. What a cutie!!! Hopefully being so young - she won't remember any of this later in life. It's amazing she managed on her own for nearly 3 week's under those conditions.
I hope she has a great future ahead of her... :)
 
What an innocent little face. You can sense the relief she must have felt by being in her Daddy's arms, where she could finally rest and know she would be taken care of. I hope she doesn't remember what happened to her.
 
Look at her crying in her daddys arms. Breaks my heart.

Toth, I will never think the same of you again.
 
I have been wracking my brain, trying to think up what would lead a mother to allow her baby to fend for herself for 19 days :dontknow: and have only come up with two possible explanations. These are not justifications -- there is NO justification for what this woman put her child through -- but maybe an explanation as to why:

1) Since she and her husband are recently separated and probably fighting over custody, she knew that her going to jail would surely work in his favor and so she didn't tell anybody about the baby so he wouldn't find out.

2) Maybe there was something illegal in the house and she was afraid to send the authorities to the home to rescue the child in fear that the contraband would be discovered.

Maybe she thought she would get out quickly and then it became to late to say: "Oh by the way, my two year old has been alone in the house all this time." Either way she she was thinking only of her self and had to have thought after a certain point that she would be going home to a dead child. This "mother" is disgusting and should be put away for life. I hope that Brianna's daddy is prepared to raise an extraordinary child.


Toth, you are a disturbed individual. I hope you find some love and therapy out there.
:mad:
 
I sent the following to the little girl today.
An invitation was given in the news to write to her. Her e-mail is

jbaby01@comcast.net



I hope your Daddy saves all of these letters and news reports. Even though this will bring sadness to you when you are older due to the judements of others. For whatever reason, your mother did this, I'm sure she will someday hope for you to forgive her. She is suffering and will suffer for the rest of her life.


What happened to you is not your fault. You are loved and have shown that God works among strangers in times of need. He must have sent you a special angel to keep you alive for a purpose. Please don't become bitter. Maybe you will be of great importance in the world someday. You could be our next president. Just know that you live a free country that will support you. Also know that there are sicknesses that people carry in their minds that need tender loving care just as physical ones do.

I'm proud of your Daddy.

Have a great life pumkin!

Angela Graham
Student of Missouri Southern State University
graham-a-095@mssu.edu
 
I think all reference to Toth should be removed from the thread.
Maybe discussing disagreement with Toth's idea would be more appropriate?

Toth I may tend to agree that the majority of society don't fall far from the tree.
What you said was not easily digested by most. Mostly because of the words you chose to use.
However, if that were true in all cases then I, myself would be a drug addicted prostitute, my children would not know their father and I would neglect my children for a visit to the bar or worse bring the bar home and subject them to the the leaches who accompany me.
None of those things are true.
I am married to the father of all of my children. (15 years)
I don't run around loosley or frequent bars (short of that twice a year visit when the girls go to hang out)
I don't expose my children to drug use or pedophiles or any other dangerous lifestyle choices.

So based on the mere fact that her mother was a complete loser does not damn the child to that. I am living proof that your arguement is flawed.
For that matter Toth, despite your seeming lack of empathy, you are living proof that not everyone lives up to the steriotype of society.
As you are here intelligently posting.
 
And BTW IMO the mother didn't tell the police because she knew she would be in trouble for leaving her child in addtion to the charges she already faced.
Seems to me she was more worried about her own problems and less about the well being of her child.
 

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