The girl was taken by police to the Volusia Family Resource Center, where her grandparents were contacted and consented to take custody of her. According to WOFL, the dog was given to Deltona Animal Control.
Authorities said they had eventually located the child’s mother and her boyfriend at around 1 a.m. on Saturday, over eight hours after they were initially called regarding the abandoned child.
Incredulous deputies asked the parents, “You leave your kid on the side of the road?” according to bodycam footage of the encounter that Law & Crime was able to view.
The 27-year-old mother of the child, Aquania Estes, went on to say that they “live in the forest” and are homeless at the moment. Her child, she informed deputies, “got out from where she was staying at.”
She protested, “I was trying to go get food and water.” “We have been going through a rough time.” Two tents were discovered by deputies in the woods where the family was allegedly residing.
Estes and her 29-year-old boyfriend, Pitrez Floyd, were arrested and accused of abandoning an animal and deserting a child. Each of them is being held on a $51,000 bond.
