Woman arrested after 2 girls found wandering alone

Naquisha Thomas charged with child neglect

MIAMI – Police arrested the mother of a 1-year-old girl found wandering the streets of Miami with a 5-year-old girl who that woman was supposed to be babysitting.

Department and Children and Families workers found the girls on Northwest 46th Street about 9:43 a.m. Wednesday after they wandered from their home in the 1800 block, said Miami police spokesman Rene Pimentel.

"It was obviously shocking to them (DCF workers). Normally, we're the ones calling them, not them calling us," said Pimentel.

Police later arrested Naquisha Thomas, the mother of the 1-year-old girl and babysitter to the 5-year-old girl. She was charged with two counts of child neglect. She told police -- who had been at the home for an hour -- that she left the girls home alone for 30 minutes while her, her boyfriend, and her 3-month-old child went to the store.

Thomas claimed the reason she left the other two children at home was because they had already been bathed and she did not want to take them out.

"This is becoming a bit habitual. This is, again, something that will be investigated by DCF," said Pimentel.

The neighbor who called the police said the children had actually been home for approximately two to three hours.

Neighbors called the home filthy and said this was not the first time the children had been left home alone.

"There's a whole bunch of debris," said Jessica Maria, who lives next door. "We put this green fence up because it's not good to the eye to see."

Court records say Thomas, 24, and Anthon Taylor, 38, were accused of child neglect in Jan. 2012. Police identified Taylor as the father of at least one of Thomas' three children. She also has two boys, ages 5 and 6.

WATCH: Thomas' ex-boyfriend, father of 5-year-old son, speaks to Local 10

DCF took custody of her three children and the 5-year-old girl. The parents of the 5-year-old girl are being interviewed by DCF to determine whether custody will be relinquished back to them or not.

Maria said she believed her neighbor's children would eventually be taken into DCF custody.

"They are hard-working people. They work hard to bring bread to their home. It's shocking to me that that's happened," she said.

Two dogs were also found inside the home in bad condition. They were later taken by Animal Services for safe keeping.