A Florida mother is facing four felony child-neglect charges after authorities said she left her four young children—including a 2-month-old baby—alone at home while taking a three-day cruise to the Bahamas.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, allegedly boarded Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Conquest and left the children unattended at her North Miami Beach residence. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested her Monday as she disembarked from the ship.
“You cannot make this up,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer said in court footage from Tuesday. “We are just grateful nothing worse happened to those kids.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, lowered her head and used her orange jail uniform to wipe away a tear during Tuesday’s arraignment. (WSVN)
“Who leaves four little kids alone to go on a cruise?”
“The poor kids were home alone.”
Police found the children Saturday, one day after the ship departed. Body-camera video showed four children emerging from hiding in a bathroom: a 2-year-old, a preteen and what appeared to be a teenage girl carrying a newborn baby.
Lether Bazile, the father of the 2-month-old, told police that Belizaire had said she was leaving the children with their great-grandmother, according to the New York Post.
A toddler emerged from a bathroom after North Miami Beach police were called to an apartment where four children were allegedly left alone while their mother took a three-day weekend cruise to the Bahamas. (WSVN)
Bazile told police he learned Belizaire was away after seeing a WhatsApp story she posted two days earlier that appeared to feature a Carnival Cruise Line ticket.
When Bazile went to Belizaire’s home, he said he saw the television on through the blinds and heard children inside.
He called police immediately. Officers entered the residence and found all four children hiding in a bathroom with no adult present.
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Authorities said the children’s grandmother, Denise Wilkes, told officers that Belizaire had promised to bring the children to her but never arrived. Belizaire’s brother, Steven Borgella, also told police that his sister texted him at 8 p.m. ET on the day the children were found, asking him to check on them.
Video showed a 2-year-old, a preteen and a teenager carrying a newborn as they left a North Miami Beach apartment where their mother allegedly abandoned them during a three-day weekend cruise. (WSVN)
Belizaire was taken into custody Monday as she stepped off the vessel at the Port of Miami. She declined to speak with officers.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Belizaire’s defense attorney stressed that leaving the children behind for a vacation remained “just an allegation at this time” and said she denied the accusations.
“At this time, it is only an allegation; she denies the allegation,” the attorney said.
“Of course she does,” Glazer replied as Belizaire appeared exasperated.
“They arrested her disembarking from the cruise ship!” the judge responded.
“I understand that, judge, I understand that,” the attorney said. “The question is who was the one responsible for the children at the time?”
Glazer thought for a second, before saying, “usually it’s the mother, the person that gave birth to them.”
“There are also others responsible, it’s not just mothers,” the defense attorney replied. “It’s not just mothers that are in charge of children, judge. It’s also fathers and grandparents and other people.”
“See, the mothers always know who their children are,” Glazer said. “Fathers may not know, but it looks like different fathers here. One of the fathers grew concerned and called the police.”
Belizaire was given a stay away order until the Department of Children and Families can investigate. She faces four felony counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. Bond was set at $10,000, $2,500 per child.
This recent arrest is not Belizaire’s first run-in with the law. She previously faced aggravated battery charges in January 2025 after allegedly pepper-spraying a neighbor in the face during a dispute regarding her daughter, the Post reported.
