Couple arrested after leaving infant and toddler alone in hotel while they went out gambling
On July 5, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office headquartered in Vero Beach, Florida, reported the arrests of two adults who abandoned their two young children in a local hotel room so they could play at an area arcade. For those readers outside of Florida, “Arcades” in the Sunshine State are another way to say “gambling dens.”
Cleaning staff at the Vero Beach Inn and Suites heard the children, ages 3 months and 18 months, crying inside the hotel room. Staff alerted the Sheriff’s Office and deputies responded to investigate. First responders determined that Martina Shaw, 34, and Aaron Doby, 35, had left the children unattended. They were found at an arcade across the street from the hotel.
EMS responded to the hotel and medically cleared the children. DCF also responded and is investigating.
Deputies determined that Doby went to the front desk at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 2, to extend the hotel stay by one day. He then left the hotel. Five minutes later, cleaning staff approached the hotel room and heard a child crying. The staff member repeatedly knocked but got no answer. The housekeeper assumed an adult was in the room tending to the child.
Ten minutes later, the housekeeper returned and could still hear the crying child. The staff member entered the room and found the 3-month-old covered in pillows and the 18-month lying on the bed, close to the edge, and not wearing clothes.
The Sheriff’s Office issued a “be-on-the-lookout” for the vehicle associated with the pair and found it at the Venetian Arcade. Shaw told deputies that the kids had been sleeping when she left to join Doby at the arcade.
Shaw and Doby, both of 15th Circle SW, Vero Beach, were arrested at noon. They are both looking at two counts of felony child neglect each and were remanded to the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bond.
(Source and Martina Shaw, Aaron Doby mugshots: IRCSO)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
