Mother Abandoned 27-Day-Old Infant In Unlocked Car As She Gambled At Adult Arcade

A mother in Florida was arrested on Friday, March 4, after she left her baby unattended in her unlocked car while she entered an adult arcade to gamble, with the baby being taken from her care after it was seen that the infant was neglected.

Thirty-two-year-old Bionca Kimyata Lockett from the Indian River County was arrested after the authorities found her newborn sitting alone in her car without any supervision. Officers saw that the car was unlocked and the engine of the car was left running and attempted to see if the carer of the baby was around, the Smoking Gun reported.

Ten minutes later, Lockett emerged from the Pirates Arcade, a nearby establishment in Sebastian Square plaza, and claimed that a friend of hers was babysitting the child, before subsequently admitting that she left the baby alone because she thought she would only be in the establishment for a few minutes, according to NBC affiliate WPTV.

The baby was said to have “dried poop from poor cleaning, dried skin, lips were chapped, and she appeared to be malnourished,” and an officer had to go to a nearby store to buy formula for the child due to a lack of adequate food with the mother.

Lockett was arrested after police officers in the area determined that she was in the establishment for one hour and 44 minutes, gambling in the adult arcade that she was in. She faces charges of child neglect due to the perceived lackluster care given to her baby.

It is unclear where the child is or under whose care they have been put to, and a judge has forbidden Lockett from communicating with the child without the presence of authorities from the Department of Children and Families.

This is not the first run-in with the law that Lockett has had. She was previously arrested in September 2021 for felony grand theft when she was charged with stealing over $1,000 from the gas station that she worked at. She pleaded no contest to the crime and was put on probation.

She is currently imprisoned pending the payment of a $50,000 bond.