Child Found in Street, Woman Charged with Neglect

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — Neighbors’ complaints about an unsupervised child found wandering near Seven Springs Boulevard on several occasions led to a 24-year-old woman’s arrest, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were called out to Whitney Nicole Shoemaker’s Carmel Avenue home Friday evening. A neighbor reported seeing a 2-year-old that was unsupervised leave the home and cross the street near the busy roadway, according to a probable cause affidavit. When deputies arrived at the home Nov. 11, they found the front door open and Shoemaker asleep in her room. The home was in "deplorable condition," an email from the sheriff's office said.

“Once the defendant woke up, she was slurring her speech and advised she believed the child to be inside the residence,” the arrest report stated.

Shoemaker told deputies that she was aware the child had left the home in the past, but “she is a hard sleeper and the victim is smart,” the report noted.

After deputies spoke with witnesses, they learned the child had been found outside alone on several occasions.

Shoemaker was ultimately charged with child neglect and booked into the Land O’ Lakes Jail. According to the arrest report, Shoemaker is a waitress at the Icon Gentleman’s Club.

Shoemaker remained in jail Monday. Deputies did not release the nature of Shoemaker’s relationship to the child. They did, however, say child protective investigators were notified and the child was taken into protective custody.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office