A 29-year-old North Miami Beach mother was arrested at PortMiami on Monday, September 28 after authorities say she left her four young children home alone for three days while she took a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas.
Nathalie Belizaire has been charged with four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, a third-degree felony in Florida.
According to the North Miami Beach Police arrest affidavit, Belizaire boarded the Carnival Conquest on Friday, September 25 for a 3-day sailing to Celebration Key, Carnival's private destination in Grand Bahama.
She left all four children inside her apartment in the 1400 block of Northeast 170th Street, including a two-month-old infant and a two-year-old toddler. The ages of the other two children have not been released.
WhatsApp Post Exposed The Trip
The case came to light after the father of the 2-month-old, identified as Lether Bazile, saw a post on Belizaire's WhatsApp story on September 24 showing what appeared to be a Carnival cruise ticket purchase.
When he confronted her, she told him she would be dropping the children off with their great-grandmother before leaving town.
But on Saturday night, September 26, Bazile went to Belizaire's apartment to check. From outside, he could see the TV on through the blinds and hear the children talking inside with no adult present. He called 911.
North Miami Beach police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue forced entry into the apartment around 8 p.m. and found the children alone.
All four minor children were discovered inside without adult supervision and were hiding together in the bathroom
Investigators then contacted the great-grandmother, Denise Wilkes. She confirmed Belizaire said she would bring the kids over but never showed up.
Belizaire's brother, Steven Borgella, also told police his sister texted him around 8 p.m. Saturday instructing him to check on her children.
Police said multiple attempts to contact Belizaire while she was at sea were unsuccessful.
Arrest at PortMiami
Detectives tracked the cruise itinerary and waited at PortMiami on Monday morning.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained Belizaire as she disembarked the Conquest and turned her over to North Miami Beach police. Carnival said it was a law enforcement matter unrelated to the ship and referred questions to police.
Authorities said Belizaire declined to give a statement and invoked her right to remain silent.
Judge: You cannot make this up
Belizaire appeared in bond court on Tuesday, September 29 before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer. Her bond was set at $10,000 with an order for no contact with the children.
You cannot make this up. It says she went on a cruise and left her children home alone. These poor kids, four of them, were home alone for three days... I'm just grateful nothing worse happened to these kids.
Who leaves a baby alone like that? The baby was born in July of this year.
Her attorney said she denies the allegations.
Police say the four children are safe and have been placed in foster care. The case is now proceeding through criminal and dependency courts.
