A Florida babysitter was charged with child neglect after taking a baby in his stroller for a ride the bed of a pickup.
According to 911 calls, several people contacted Daytona Beach police Wednesday when they saw the stroller in the back of the truck.
"It's not something you see every day," Daytona Beach police Chief Mike Chitwood told CNN affiliate WESH. "I hope they revoke her babysitting license for that. Would you want her watching your kid?"
The babysitter, Keyona Davis, 23, said in a court appearance Thursday that she had a firm grip on the stroller and that she did not realize her actions constituted neglect.
Davis' public defender had argued that the charge of child neglect was too harsh, as the baby was unharmed.
"It's only if the pickup crashes, the child will be injured or hurt," a public defender said in court.
Davis replied, "Exactly!"
Davis said she didn't realize that police would consider what she did as "negligent."
"It's not like they give you a handbook or anything," she said.
Davis was released from jail on her own recognizance. Police are still investigating the driver of the truck and the baby's mother.
OMG its called COMMON SENSE you moron. YOU do not ride in the back of a pickup with a baby period.Its just like riding with a child in your lap. She is 23 if she was too stupid to realize this then she should not be babysitting. Does she deserve jail NO but a stiff fine just as if the child was not in a car seat maybe a little higher.
A handbook??? Can she really be that dam stupid.....dang....
. . . and the dumbing down of America continues . . . .
Revoke her license? Since when does the government decide you must have a license for babysitting?
Obviously yes she's that dumb. So dumb that, I hope she never has children of her own. We already have enough dumb people in the human gene pool as it is.
the funny thing is there technically is a handbook of sorts, its called your state, federal, and municipal laws.
Ashtish is right, it was a dumb thing to do but deserves a dope slap, not charging her with anything. You have to protect infants but I am a little sick of hysterical condemnation for human error like this.
jail time would be appropriate here.
Send a real strong message!
She made a mistake... make sure she's learned her lesson and move on. Being ignorant is not criminal!
If it was a pickup truckbed load of Mexicans nobody would care.
aahhh, and your point is?
My point is that it's common practice to drive around in a pickup truck with a load of Mexican workers in the back around here and nobody ever gets stropped and ticketed. But a baby.........how terrible.
What about a Mexican baby?
I think the public defender should be charged with contempt for the stupidest defense argument ever. To follow his logic, we don't need seatbelts, motorcycle helmets, or airbags, and it's just fine for babies to ride in a parent's lap instead of a car seat because hey, as long as you don't crash, there's no problem.
Idiot.
2 Likes, 2 thumbs up, and 2 extra hands for smacking that defender upside his head.
I don't agree with what she did, but I had to comment on your post. 30 years ago, no one had a problem with a child riding in a car on mom's lap.
Someone please tell me why they didn't just take the baby out of the stroller and let someone sitting inside the truck hold the child? Sure they might have still been ticketed for not putting the child in a car seat, but that option would have drawn far less attention. Keyona as a babysitter = FAIL
I used to ride in the back of my dad's pickup, standing up, get a grip on reality people. Go after real criminals..
your old man was a criminal
child endangerment.
at some point you were obviously dropped on your head, also.
frontgate – "your old man was a criminal – child endangerment."
No, a LOOOONG time ago, like 30 years, back before the internet, and before things that we now know are bad ideas, drunk driving, kids in the back of pickups, that was NORMAL. I have ridden in the back of a pickup to/from soccer practice when I was very young. It wasn't criminal, it was NORMAL.
Not the brightest thing in this day and age, but do we really need to pay for three hots and a cot for it? Or will a strongly worded smackdown, and an admonition to never do it again suffice?
Jail is silly and hyperbolic....dumb thing to do? Sure, deserving of jail? Please...
It seems that people have to be in everyone else's business ... the child faired ok (this time), and certainly bad judgment was used. They should have put her on someone's lap and fastened the seatbelt around both passenger and infant.
Jail time ... let's tap the brakes before you put on a hood and light the crosses or tie a noose, OK, ms frontgate!
Hardly the crime of the century .... a ticket for no seatbelt for the passengers in back, and a lecture by the judge might give the babysitter the insight that she lacked ... I am sure she already has gotten the message when arrested.
Was the driver of the vehicle charged, as he / she must be the one to answer on whether the vehicle and the occupants are travelling safely while he / she operates the vehicle?
Note to parents: Know what you expect from the babysitter, and set rules about how and with whom she should be transported. Did the infant's parents know she would take the baby out, did they provide a car seat ... did the babysitter have to bring the child for a parent authorized ride? More questions than answers for all involved.
She must have forgotten her crack pipe and was wigged out and in a rush. Moron.
A freaking moron. This is EXACTLY why young persons such as herself MUST get an education, rise above the poverty, and become freaking SELF AWARE first before they can even be responsible "adults". God help this plant! Too many ignorant people.
Why are there so many stupid people in Florida?
same erason there are so many stupid arabs in the middle east, its freaking HOT here
Its against driving safety period in pretty much any state to ride in the back of a truck why? Because if there's a wreck pretty much 99% of the time anyone in the truck bed is dead. Its completely incompetent and negligent to put a child at risk in the back of a damn drunk. I dont think what they're charging her for is to harsh. Being stupid and incompetent shouldn't get you out of being reckless and dangerous with an infants life.
Favorite Quote from the article:
"It's only if the pickup crashes, the child will be injured or hurt," a public defender said in court.
Davis replied, "Exactly!"
Would have loved to have been in the courtroom to see that Law & Order type drama.
Injured or hurt the defense lawyer said. Isn't that the same thing?
I am 65 and grew up in the South. It was a common practice for all of the kids to ride in the back of the pickup truck. How else could we all travel? Many families could not afford to have both a truck and a passenger car. My, how times have changed.
So many idiots so little we can do.
CNN...Killer reporting......hmmmmm how many jobs were lost today, we will be on the bread line.......when??????why dont you write about how bad washington is screwing us and who is to blame.......oh wait CNN is a part of them. Instead lets talk about a baby in the back of a pick-up.....it Florida for crying out load.....the most twisted state in the U.S.