A Florida mother was arrested last week after her children’s father dropped the kids off at a “filthy” Miami Beach home filled with “old food and dirty dishes scattered throughout, with flies and insects.”
Miriam Shvetz, 34, was not home, and the children were alone, WPLG said.
Shvetz’s ex-husband called police after the kids, ages 5 and 9, notified him “that the mother was not home.” He said he had spoken with her earlier about dropping the children off and “she did not communicate with him that she was not going to be home.”
When officers arrived, they “heard a child on a video phone call talking and crying” to the mother, police said.
An officer spoke with Shvetz on the phone, and she told him she could not get back home “because she had things to do,” a police report said.
“Officers noted that the apartment smelled of rotting food and urine,” the report said. “The walls and floors were filthy and the kitchen had old food and dirty dishes scattered throughout, with flies and insects. One of the toilets was clogged and full of old urine and feces. Feces (were) also scattered throughout the bathroom floor.”
Another child, 7, was at school at the time. According to the report, the ex-husband said that Shvetz had told him she had not enrolled the other two children in school and had “no plans” to do so.
“He was added to the children’s school to be able to enroll them and is working on doing so,” the report states.
Police said they have been called about the ongoing custody dispute at least four times since 2023.
Shvetz was booked into jail on neglect charges with a $5,000 bond. She was no longer on jail roles by Monday, and it’s not clear where the children are.
Acording to the Tampa Free Press, Shvetz is due in court again on September 19.
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[Featured image: Miriam Shvetz/Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation]
