A Florida woman hired to care for a child while the family traveled out of state allegedly left the child completely unsupervised overnight, and the child later ended up at a hospital after ingesting drugs that had been left within reach inside the home.
Maribel Plaza, 29, of Lake County, Florida, was arrested on June 19 and charged with child neglect after a troubling sequence of events unfolded in the early morning hours in Leesburg.
According to a police affidavit, officers were called to UF Health Hospital in Leesburg around 1:30 a.m. after a neighbor brought the child there. The neighbor told police the child had knocked on their door around 1 a.m. begging to be taken to the hospital after reportedly falling off a bed. No adult was present at the home.
The neighbor described the child as weak, sick, and lethargic. Hospital staff conducted testing, which came back positive for THC — the active compound in marijuana.
Police contacted the child’s family through a video call. A family member confirmed that Plaza had been left as the sole adult responsible for the child while they were away in Georgia for several days. The child, once awake enough to speak with officers, told police that Plaza had left around 10 p.m. the night before and never returned.
When officers tracked down Plaza, she initially told them she had left believing the family was coming home that night. She later admitted she had left the child alone so she could spend the night at her boyfriend’s house.
When asked how the child may have come into contact with THC, Plaza told police she had stored a bottle of CBD oil in the bathroom medicine cabinet and THC gummies in the freezer — both locations accessible to the child.
Plaza posted a $5,000 bond the same day and is scheduled to appear in court on July 13.
