Mother arrested for leaving 1-year-old infant alone

A 19-year-old St Augustine mother is in jail today after her arrest by St Augustine Police on charges that twice this week she neglected her 1-year-old child; having left the infant alone in her Palmer Street apartment; according to information provided to Historic City News this morning.

The arrest report, forwarded by Public Information Officer Mark Samson, indicates that Tori Le-Ann Cramer was reported to police after her roommate became suspicious that the infant was alone in their apartment at 45 Palmer Street in St Augustine.

Earlier this week, 32-year-old Tiffani Harris, who shares the apartment with Cramer, told police that she came home after work on Monday night to find the child; alone in their room, unsupervised, in a diaper full of urine and feces. Harris said she changed the baby’s diaper and watched the child while she tried to contact Cramer by phone.

In a statement made part of the police report, Harris stated that Cramer did not answer her phone, so she sent Cramer a text message telling her that she had 30-minutes to return to the apartment. Cramer responded to the text message Monday saying that she “went out for a run and ended up at [her boyfriend’s] house and fell asleep.” Cramer told Harris that she was waiting on a cab.

In yesterday’s incident, Harris reported that she believed she was at the apartment, alone, waiting for her own 12-year-old daughter to be dropped off after school. Harris stated that she made arrangements with her mother to pick up her daughter, because she had to be at work at a local restaurant by 5:00 p.m.

Harris left the apartment; and then, about ten minutes later, she told police that she received a call from her daughter to let her know that “she thought she heard the baby” in Cramer’s room as she was leaving with her grandmother.

Being concerned for the child’s welfare, in case the daughter’s suspicions were correct, the roommate asked police to enter their apartment. At about 4:45 p.m., officers checked the apartment and discovered the infant in its playpen; closed in the bedroom with a towel along the bottom of the door.

Police Sergeant Jennifer Michaux and Department of Children and Families employee, Liz Frostenson responded to the scene. Michaux reported finding the child’s diaper full of urine, changing the diaper, and allowing Frostenson to remove the child from the empty apartment. According to the report, Department of Children and Families officer Tara Scarbrough took custody of the child at the police station and is investigating the incident.

Police were able to locate Cramer’s boyfriend in his room at the Cozy Inn on San Marco Avenue. He told officers that he believed Cramer “was walking to meet him at McDonald’s”. Cramer was located in the area of Ponce de Leon Boulevard and San Carlos Avenue, where she explained that she left her child in her apartment about “3:30ish” because “she did not want to take the child out in the rain”.