Cops: Brooklyn mom deserted girls, 2 and 3
An unidentified woman walks in front of a Breukelen Houses building where the mother of two girls who were abandoned lived in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Jan. 30, 2012) Credit: AP
A woman accused of abandoning her 2-year-old and 3-year-old daughters in front of a Brooklyn apartment house Sunday afternoon has been arrested, police said.
The mother, Dalisha Adams, 26, of Brooklyn, faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, prosecutors said Monday.
Two people found the girls, Dominae, 2, and Dioni, 3, standing near the Bay View House at East 102nd Street and Shore Parkway in Carnarsie, police said.
"They were calm but they were sticking by each other really close," said NYPD Officer Edgard Centeno, who responded to the 911 call placed by the good Samaritans. "They were a little afraid because they were alone."
The girls, clutching disposable diapers, told Centeno and partner Officer Billy Morales their mother's name was Dalisha and that she brought them there in a car and drove off. They did not know her last name.
Police learned later that Adams lives on Glenwood Road, about 1 1/2 miles from where the girls were found. Basing their search on her first name, they located her apartment. She found out police were looking for her and turned herself in.
"They looked healthy," Morales said of the girls. "They were dressed for the weather and energetic."
It's not known how long the girls had been on their own.
The officers took them into the Bay View House to see if anyone recognized them, but no one did, they said. The officers then called an ambulance and the girls were taken to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, where they were evaluated.
Police said they do not know why Adams left her girls on the street.
"I was outraged," Centeno said. "I was a little angry that a parent would do that."
The girls were placed in the care of the Administration for Children's Services.
