Inset: Annie Rivera. Background: The area of NW 17th Street and NW 7th Avenue in Miami, Florida, where Rivera”s 6-year-old son was allegedly found walking alone (WTVJ).
A Florida mother in her 30s was taken into custody after allegedly abandoning her 6-year-old son, who was discovered wandering alone on the streets of Miami.
Annie Rivera faces charges of child neglect without causing serious injury. According to an arrest affidavit, officers responded to a 911 call just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday near NW 17th Street and NW 7th Avenue. The call reported a young child walking unsupervised in the area.
The boy reportedly told the officers, “Mommy dropped me off and left me.”
Authorities circulated a “need to identify” flyer among local agencies. By 10:30 a.m. Thursday, a representative from Miami-Dade Public Schools contacted the police, helping them identify the child and providing his mother’s contact details. Investigators also uncovered a previous report from the Department of Children and Families citing concerns about inadequate supervision from the prior year.
Police interviewed a woman living with Rivera. She mentioned that Rivera and her son were absent when she went to bed around 11:30 p.m. that night. She heard the door open during the night, assuming Rivera and the child had returned. Upon waking, she noticed Rivera was home but the boy was missing, thinking he might be with his godmother.
Rivera was apprehended at her residence on NW 7th Court, not far from where the boy was found. She claimed she had finished work at 8:20 p.m., and she and her son took a Lyft home.
Rivera said she tucked the boy into bed and later took another Lyft to meet a friend to eat before she worked another job. She returned home between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. before going to sleep. The defendant did not realize her son was gone until DCF contacted her on Thursday morning, according to the affidavit. She allegedly said she thought her roommate took her son to school.
But Rivera did not ask nor coordinate with her roommate to take the boy to school.
“The defendant took full responsibility and admitted it was her fault,” cops wrote.
Local NBC affiliate WTVJ spoke with the man who called cops after spotting the boy walking by himself.
“This is odd for him to be in an area like this,” Arnett Johnson told the TV station. “I said, ‘man, it’s a little [boy] over here, looks like he’s lost, he’s in an odd area, but you all need to come get him.’”
The outlet also interviewed Rivera’s roommate who was contacted by DCF after cops identified the boy. She said she then called the boy’s mother.
“I was like ‘hey, where’s your son? They said they found your son,’” she told WTVJ. “She said ‘I thought you took him to school this morning.’ I said ‘you didn’t ask me, I know I didn’t take him to school,’” she said.
Rivera was taken to the Miami-Dade jail where she has since posted $2,500 bond. She pleaded not guilty. Her next court date was not listed.
