Parents Went Out for Dinner Leaving Kids with No Food, Electricity at Home

Parents were arrested after leaving their five kids in a filthy Miami Beach apartment that had no electricity, food, or a working toilet. The apartment also had just one bed.

Sanel Canovic, 40, and Azra Nikocevic, 33, were arrested Tuesday on five counts each of child neglect with no great bodily harm, according to the police department.

The investigation began Tuesday afternoon when a passerby in a high-traffic area saw a six-year-old boy walking across the street by himself.

The passerby called 911, and when the cops found the child, he took the police to the apartment located in the 700 block of 15th Street. The door was answered by the oldest child, a 12-year-old.

Officers found four other children in the apartment, which had no food, no electricity, no working toilet, and no functioning stove, the reports said.

Police asked the kids if they were hungry, and they all said yes, adding that their last meal had been around 10 p.m. the night before.

Officers also found the toilet contained stagnant water and feces, and there was no toilet paper in the home. The children told them they took showers after going to the bathroom.

The children said they had been without electricity for around two months.

Officers took the children to the police station and fed them while trying to locate their parents, but the parents were nowhere to be found.

The police revealed in the affidavit that the toilet in the home was filled with feces. The children told authorities they had to take showers after using the bathroom because they had no toilet paper.

The affidavit also stated that the kids wore extremely dirty clothing that smelled strongly of urine.

The daughter said the children ate breakfast and lunch at school and were told by their father, “You eat at school, so you don’t eat at home,” police said.

She added that the kids often went to bed hungry, especially during the holiday break, as their meals depended on their parents bringing food home. She mentioned their mother would occasionally leave them $20 to buy food, which they used to purchase two bacon cheeseburgers and three McChicken sandwiches from McDonald’s.

“The parents would frequently share a meal in the evening without providing food for the children,” the reports said. “They would often leave the children at home while they went out to dinner.”

The daughter said the apartment had been without toilet paper for about a week. The children used small rags or took showers, and officers found several soiled rags on the bathroom floor, police said.

“All the children were wearing soiled clothing and had a strong odor of body odor and urine,” the reports said. “She stated it had been approximately two weeks since their parents last did laundry, resulting in them often wearing dirty clothing.”

Officers contacted Nikocevic, who responded to the police station and told investigators their apartment had been without electricity for around six weeks since they were behind on the bill, the reports said.

She admitted she left $20 for the kids to buy snacks but said she had no way of confirming that they had eaten since she couldn’t contact them while at work, the reports said.

Nikocevic said she was trying to get assistance with food stamps but denied depriving the children of food, the reports said.

Canovic later arrived at the police station and asked to give a statement through a Croatian speaker, the reports said. An officer translated for the father, who invoked his right to an attorney.

“The defendant and co-defendant willfully failed to provide adequate care, supervision, and the basic necessities required to maintain the victims’ physical and mental health,” the report said.

Both parents were arrested and booked into jail. They later appeared in court, where a judge set their bond at $2,500 each.

“This is a heartbreaking case,” Miami Beach Police spokesman Christopher Bess said. “Our message to the community, especially in this case, is if you see something like this, if you see a child who is not with his or her parent or an adult, please do not hesitate to call the police. That witness was at the right place at the right time, and thankfully we were able to give the kids some food.”