Inset: Miriam Shvetz (Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department). Background: The condo building where the defendant resides in Miami Beach, Florida. (Google Maps).
A Florida woman was recently arrested after her two young children were found living alone and in squalor, Sunshine State police allege.
Miriam Shvetz, 34, stands accused of two counts of child neglect with no great harm, according to Miami-Dade county court records.
Police responded to the defendant’s condo on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, an island city on the Atlantic coast within the Miami metropolitan area, after being called on Thursday.
The 911 call was made by the defendant’s former husband after he dropped off two of their kids, as detailed in an arrest report reviewed by local TV station WPLG.
The children, ages 5 and 9, were brought to their mom’s home around noon, and they informed their father that she was not there, police reported.
The father claimed to police that this was unexpected, stating that he had communicated with Shvetz earlier and she failed to inform him about being absent from home, as per the arrest document.
Upon arrival, one of the responding officers allegedly “heard a child on a video phone call talking and crying” to their mother.
An officer allegedly conversed with the defendant, and Shvetz purportedly confirmed that her ex-husband was tasked with dropping the kids off. She allegedly mentioned she couldn’t return home immediately because she had other obligations.
Then there was the alleged state of things in the condo itself.
“Officers noted that the apartment smelled of rotting food and urine,” the arrest report reads. “The walls and floors were filthy and the kitchen had old food and dirty dishes scattered throughout, with flies and insects. One of the toilets was clogged and full of old urine and feces. Feces (were) also scattered throughout the bathroom floor.”
A custody dispute between the defendant her ex-husband has been ongoing since 2023, police said. The couple filed for divorce in 2022, court records show. Law enforcement say they have been called to the woman’s home multiple times in relation to the custody dispute.
In a discussion with investigators, the father of the two children found at home said their mother had not enrolled them in school and had “no plans” to do so. Meanwhile, the former couple’s third child, a 7-year-old, is, in fact, enrolled at school, according to law enforcement.
“He was added to the children’s school to be able to enroll them and is working on doing so,” the arrest report says – in reference to the father and the 5-year-old and 9-year-old.
The defendant was arrested on Thursday. She has since been released from the Miami-Dade County Jail after posting bond.
Her arraignment is slated for Sept. 19.
