Inset: Jasmine Greer (Miami-Dade Corrections). Background: Greer's 5-year-old daughter alone in a Family Dollar parking lot in South Miami, Florida (WPLG).
A Florida mother was not paying close enough attention to her 5-year-old nonverbal daughter with autism when the girl escaped from the home — not once, but twice — and walked to a Family Dollar alone, cops allege.
Jasmine Greer, 37, is facing two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.
Cops with the South Miami Police Department responded to a Family Dollar at 5978 SW 64th St. shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday after someone spotted the girl alone in the parking lot with a soiled diaper, a probable cause arrest affidavit said.
Witnesses said the girl was nearly hit by a car. Greer apparently realized her daughter was missing and came to pick her up. Police later found the girl and her mom inside the computer room at their apartment complex. The girl still had a soiled diaper, the affidavit stated, so officers "escorted" Greer to her apartment for a diaper change.
Officers were apparently familiar with Greer: They had found the girl alone at the store four days earlier.
According to local ABC affiliate WPLG, police had previously responded to the store shortly after 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, after a passerby saw the wandering girl with a dirty diaper.
The girl could not communicate with officers, but as they tried to speak with her, the cellphone she carried started ringing. It was Greer, apparently wondering where her daughter was.
Greer told cops she was cleaning her apartment and didn't realize her daughter had escaped, cops told WPLG.
Cops did not arrest Greer after the first incident, but after the second incident they took her to the police station, where she reportedly admitted she failed to supervise her daughter, who had a history of wandering away.
"The South Miami Police Department takes the safety and welfare of children in our community extremely seriously," the department told the TV station. "Parents and caregivers are responsible for ensuring that children, particularly those with special needs who may be unable to recognize or communicate potential dangers, receive appropriate supervision and care."
Greer remains in the Miami-Dade Jail on a $20,000 bond.
The Department of Children and Families took custody of Greer's daughter and two other children.