10-02-2003, 01:40 PM
http://www.msnbc.com/news/974067.asp
Hospital releases ‘Home Alone’ tot
Girl survived on ketchup, dried pasta while mom in jail
Oct. 1 — A 2-year-old girl survived 19 days alone after her mother, at left, was arrested and allegedly failed to tell police about her child. NBC's Jeannie Ohm reports.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 1 — A 2-year-old girl left home alone for 2½ weeks while her mother was in jail has been released from the hospital after being treated for malnutrition and dehydration, officials said Wednesday.
‘She grabbed me and wouldn’t let go of me.’
— OGDEN LEE
Father of abandoned girl THE CHILD, who survived by eating ketchup, mustard and dried pasta, was released late Tuesday from Wolfson Children’s Hospital to the custody of the state Department of Children & Families.
“The only thing I can tell you is that she is in good condition,†hospital spokesman David Foreman said.
The state agency was reviewing the case to determine where the child should be placed.
“The child is safe in our care,†said Patricia Mallon, a DCF district manager. “Our every effort is to ensure her safety and well-being.â€
The little girl, whose name was not released, had been left alone since her mother, Dakeysha Telita Lee, was jailed Sept. 10 for aggravated assault and petty theft, police said. The mother was charged Monday with child abuse, and was being held Tuesday on $20,000 bond.
The child’s father, Ogden Lee, who is separated from the 22-year-old mother, said he had been trying to contact her for two weeks and did not learn until Sunday night that she was in jail.
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When a manager let him into the apartment, the youngster was lying nude in a baby’s bathtub, covered with a towel and was watching a TV cartoon channel. She was filthy and covered with dry ketchup and jelly, Sheriff John Rutherford said Tuesday.
“She grabbed me and wouldn’t let go of me,†Lee said. “It is really a miracle how good a shape my daughter is in. I don’t know how she did it.â€
Lee, 33, said the girl had dragged the food, toys and other things into her mother’s bedroom, where he found her.
Leaford James, who lives across a breezeway from Dakeysha Lee’s apartment, said he had heard crying from the apartment “but nothing to get suspicious about.â€
Dakeysha Lee was represented by the Public Defender’s Office on the original charges, but it had not been assigned the child abuse case. Her appointed attorney was not immediately available for comment.
Hospital releases ‘Home Alone’ tot
Girl survived on ketchup, dried pasta while mom in jail
Oct. 1 — A 2-year-old girl survived 19 days alone after her mother, at left, was arrested and allegedly failed to tell police about her child. NBC's Jeannie Ohm reports.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 1 — A 2-year-old girl left home alone for 2½ weeks while her mother was in jail has been released from the hospital after being treated for malnutrition and dehydration, officials said Wednesday.
‘She grabbed me and wouldn’t let go of me.’
— OGDEN LEE
Father of abandoned girl THE CHILD, who survived by eating ketchup, mustard and dried pasta, was released late Tuesday from Wolfson Children’s Hospital to the custody of the state Department of Children & Families.
“The only thing I can tell you is that she is in good condition,†hospital spokesman David Foreman said.
The state agency was reviewing the case to determine where the child should be placed.
“The child is safe in our care,†said Patricia Mallon, a DCF district manager. “Our every effort is to ensure her safety and well-being.â€
The little girl, whose name was not released, had been left alone since her mother, Dakeysha Telita Lee, was jailed Sept. 10 for aggravated assault and petty theft, police said. The mother was charged Monday with child abuse, and was being held Tuesday on $20,000 bond.
The child’s father, Ogden Lee, who is separated from the 22-year-old mother, said he had been trying to contact her for two weeks and did not learn until Sunday night that she was in jail.
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When a manager let him into the apartment, the youngster was lying nude in a baby’s bathtub, covered with a towel and was watching a TV cartoon channel. She was filthy and covered with dry ketchup and jelly, Sheriff John Rutherford said Tuesday.
“She grabbed me and wouldn’t let go of me,†Lee said. “It is really a miracle how good a shape my daughter is in. I don’t know how she did it.â€
Lee, 33, said the girl had dragged the food, toys and other things into her mother’s bedroom, where he found her.
Leaford James, who lives across a breezeway from Dakeysha Lee’s apartment, said he had heard crying from the apartment “but nothing to get suspicious about.â€
Dakeysha Lee was represented by the Public Defender’s Office on the original charges, but it had not been assigned the child abuse case. Her appointed attorney was not immediately available for comment.