Police: Mother leaves 1-year-old daughter alone in parked car to go to Miami Gardens beauty salon

Police officers arrested Janina Joseph on Friday in Miami Gardens.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A 22-year-old woman faced a felony charge on Tuesday in Miami-Dade County after police officers reported finding her 1-year-old daughter alone in a car in Miami Gardens.

At about 7:55 p.m. on Friday, Miami Gardens police officers and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel responded to the parking lot at 20401 NW 2nd Ave., according to a police report.

After finding the toddler alone in the car, MDFR personnel opened the car’s door and found her in “good health,” according to the police officer’s report.

A sergeant found the girl’s mother, Janina Joseph, in a beauty salon on the second floor, and she said she was there “doing her hair,” according to the police report.

“The baby was released to the father on scene, who arrived at the location,” a police officer wrote, according to the report.

Police officers arrested Joseph at 9:30 p.m. on Friday and filed a report with the Florida Department of Children and Families, according to the police report.

Miami-Dade corrections booked Joseph at the Turner Guilford Correctional Center. She appeared in bond court on Saturday, facing a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm.

Joseph’s bond was $2,500, and corrections released her on Sunday, according to court records. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson was presiding over the case.

Local 10 News Senior Assignment Editor Frine Gomez contributed to this report.

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Andrea Torres

Andrea Torres

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.