Dakota Valkyrie
April 25th, 2009, 09:11 PM
It wasn't a careening car, a stray dog, a drunk driver or some other likely obstacle that sent a SEPTA bus screeching to a halt in East Germantown early yesterday.
Rather, a bare-footed toddler in nothing more than inside-out pajama pants waddled into the busy intersection, leaving jittery gawkers relieved at a tragedy averted and sending police on a two-hour hunt to find the tot's parents.
Detectives found his mother, Tonya Robinson, about 10:30 a.m. sitting on the stoop outside her home, a block from where he was found. She told authorities she hadn't seen the boy since 6:30 a.m. but had not reported him missing, said Lt. Al Rossi of the Special Victims Unit.
Police took Malik, who had multiple bruises and scars, to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children for examination. Police charged Robinson, 34, with endangering the welfare of a child and expect to file further charges, after the medical results are complete.
"It's atrocious," Rossi said. "A 3-year-old kid walking around alone in the city could have been killed. God was with him."
Bettia Prince had just dropped her children off at nearby Eleanor C. Emlen School when she spotted the bare-chested boy at about 8:20 a.m. walking on the sidewalk with no accompanying adult in sight.
The boy toddled into a store, but was quickly escorted out by contractors apparently doing renovations.
"They just left him there on the sidewalk by himself; I couldn't believe it," Prince said.
But even as the 32-year-old mother of two scurried to intervene, Malik stepped into the street and into the path of a SEPTA bus, Prince said.
"That driver had to stomp on his brakes real quick," Prince said.
Prince scooped the boy up and took him to a nearby day care, where workers fed him some Cheerios and gave him some clothing before apologetically asking Prince and her charge to leave, citing security and liability reasons.
So after reporting her discovery to police, Prince waited for officers at Emlen School, where staffers gave the cheerful, chatty child more food and clothing.
Prince then accompanied police as they took Malik door-to-door, looking for anyone who could identify him.
At Malik's house, Robinson watched police approach with little comment and asked for her son back. But investigators refused and instead arrested her. They also arrested her boyfriend after noting Robinson had a swollen lip and bloodied shirt; he was charged with domestic-abuse offenses, Rossi said.
Rossi said the family has a history of involvement with the Department of Human Services. It's unclear whether Robinson's other children, who are older, would also be removed from her custody.http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090425_Half-naked_tot_found_wandering_alone.html
Damn! The should re-name that kid "Lucky"!!
I can not even begin to understand how you could just sit on the steps while you have a 3-year-old missing for minutes, much less 4 hours.
More on the woman that "found" him:
Prince, who lives across the street from Robinson and her family, said she didn't know the woman and doesn't remember seeing Malik before she found him wandering yesterday.
Late yesterday afternoon, Prince was still at the boy's side at St. Christopher's.
"I just can't leave a child, hurt or scared. I have a lot of love for kids," she said, adding that she planned to stay with Malik until he was placed with relatives or a foster family.
Besides her own two children, Prince is a foster mother about to adopt her 3-year-old foster child and take legal guardianship of a teenager and the teen's baby.
In between X-rays and other medical screening at St. Christopher's yesterday, she mothered Malik as well.
"He's good, but he's very, very, very busy," she said, squealing as she hurried to halt Malik from pulling the fire alarm.
Seven months pregnant, she's supposed to be on bed rest, a precaution her doctor ordered after her last child was born premature.
Yesterday, she squirmed through several mild contractions as she cooed to Malik in a falsetto voice: "Hey buddy! Do you like that cookie?"
"This is definitely not what the doctor ordered," she laughed. "But I don't want to do what his mother did and just let him go. I want to stay with him and make sure he's OK."
Rather, a bare-footed toddler in nothing more than inside-out pajama pants waddled into the busy intersection, leaving jittery gawkers relieved at a tragedy averted and sending police on a two-hour hunt to find the tot's parents.
Detectives found his mother, Tonya Robinson, about 10:30 a.m. sitting on the stoop outside her home, a block from where he was found. She told authorities she hadn't seen the boy since 6:30 a.m. but had not reported him missing, said Lt. Al Rossi of the Special Victims Unit.
Police took Malik, who had multiple bruises and scars, to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children for examination. Police charged Robinson, 34, with endangering the welfare of a child and expect to file further charges, after the medical results are complete.
"It's atrocious," Rossi said. "A 3-year-old kid walking around alone in the city could have been killed. God was with him."
Bettia Prince had just dropped her children off at nearby Eleanor C. Emlen School when she spotted the bare-chested boy at about 8:20 a.m. walking on the sidewalk with no accompanying adult in sight.
The boy toddled into a store, but was quickly escorted out by contractors apparently doing renovations.
"They just left him there on the sidewalk by himself; I couldn't believe it," Prince said.
But even as the 32-year-old mother of two scurried to intervene, Malik stepped into the street and into the path of a SEPTA bus, Prince said.
"That driver had to stomp on his brakes real quick," Prince said.
Prince scooped the boy up and took him to a nearby day care, where workers fed him some Cheerios and gave him some clothing before apologetically asking Prince and her charge to leave, citing security and liability reasons.
So after reporting her discovery to police, Prince waited for officers at Emlen School, where staffers gave the cheerful, chatty child more food and clothing.
Prince then accompanied police as they took Malik door-to-door, looking for anyone who could identify him.
At Malik's house, Robinson watched police approach with little comment and asked for her son back. But investigators refused and instead arrested her. They also arrested her boyfriend after noting Robinson had a swollen lip and bloodied shirt; he was charged with domestic-abuse offenses, Rossi said.
Rossi said the family has a history of involvement with the Department of Human Services. It's unclear whether Robinson's other children, who are older, would also be removed from her custody.http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090425_Half-naked_tot_found_wandering_alone.html
Damn! The should re-name that kid "Lucky"!!
I can not even begin to understand how you could just sit on the steps while you have a 3-year-old missing for minutes, much less 4 hours.
More on the woman that "found" him:
Prince, who lives across the street from Robinson and her family, said she didn't know the woman and doesn't remember seeing Malik before she found him wandering yesterday.
Late yesterday afternoon, Prince was still at the boy's side at St. Christopher's.
"I just can't leave a child, hurt or scared. I have a lot of love for kids," she said, adding that she planned to stay with Malik until he was placed with relatives or a foster family.
Besides her own two children, Prince is a foster mother about to adopt her 3-year-old foster child and take legal guardianship of a teenager and the teen's baby.
In between X-rays and other medical screening at St. Christopher's yesterday, she mothered Malik as well.
"He's good, but he's very, very, very busy," she said, squealing as she hurried to halt Malik from pulling the fire alarm.
Seven months pregnant, she's supposed to be on bed rest, a precaution her doctor ordered after her last child was born premature.
Yesterday, she squirmed through several mild contractions as she cooed to Malik in a falsetto voice: "Hey buddy! Do you like that cookie?"
"This is definitely not what the doctor ordered," she laughed. "But I don't want to do what his mother did and just let him go. I want to stay with him and make sure he's OK."