A Michigan woman faces charges of aggravated child abuse and unlawful desertion of a child after her one-year-old son was discovered “unresponsive” and “cold to the touch” on a Volusia County beach. Shamika Mitchell, 37, hailing from Detroit, was apprehended by authorities and is currently held at the Volusia County Jail.
The incident unfolded on November 10 when a search commenced for the 1-year-old boy near Halifax Avenue in Daytona Beach. Mitchell’s teenage son initiated the search after questioning her about his baby brother’s whereabouts.
Allegedly abandoning her car, with three other children inside, Mitchell walked away with the baby, failing to return with the child, as detailed in an affidavit. She claimed to have handed the baby over to his father after meeting him at a nearby convenience store, but her son disputed the account, noting that the child’s father resided in Detroit.
Further investigation revealed Mitchell’s intentional act of leaving the baby unsupervised at the beach, according to the affidavit.
The baby boy was discovered at Main Street and Ocean Avenue in the care of four bystanders who were attempting to warm the “unresponsive” child, deputies reported. Removing the child’s wet diaper in an effort to warm and dry him, the bystanders then sought assistance from law enforcement.
A responding deputy took the shivering child, with an elevated pulse, into his patrol car and worked to warm him until medical personnel arrived. As of Tuesday afternoon, the baby’s condition remains unknown.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) took custody of the three other children for the night, subsequently handing them over to their grandparents, who traveled from Michigan to Florida to care for them.
Mitchell is currently held in the Volusia County Jail on a $50,000 bond. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities closely monitoring the well-being of the abandoned baby.
