A 25-year-old mother in Gainesville, Florida, was arrested early Saturday morning after her young children found her unresponsive in a bathtub and sought help from a neighbor.
Shalesia Cave faces three counts of child neglect without causing great bodily harm following her arrest by the Gainesville Police Department.
According to an arrest report, a neighbor contacted authorities after Cave’s 6-year-old son, who has autism, came to her door with a younger sibling. The neighbor’s Ring camera captured the children visibly distraught and knocking on the door, with the 6-year-old singing that his mother was dead.
The neighbor brought the two children inside and then went to Cave’s apartment to retrieve a third child, a 10-month-old infant, before calling 911. The report noted that Cave was the only adult present in the residence.
Responding officers found Cave naked, breathing, and unresponsive in a bathtub. After being shaken and spoken to loudly, Cave gradually came to her senses but was still incredibly unaware of her surroundings or her physical state.
While speaking with law enforcement, Cave spontaneously uttered that she ignored her kids earlier in the evening so that they would go back to sleep.
Cave was booked into the Alachua County Jail and later released on her own recognizance. Court conditions require her to stay away from her children.
Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.
