Kodak mother charged after crying toddler found unattended

SEVIERVILLE,  Tenn. ( WATE ) — A woman is facing child neglect and animal neglect charges after Sevierville Police responded to a Kodak apartment complex on a call reporting a toddler who was found crying in the parking lot wearing nothing but a diaper on Sunday.

A report from the Sevierville Police Department states that the mother of the toddler, Kaaernitha Lakendra Griffin , 27, has been charged with child neglect and animal neglect.

According to the report narrative, on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024 at 1:44 a.m. SPD officers responded to the Douglas Green Apartments on Snyder Road in reference to a possible child neglect incident after residents called police when they found a toddler between the age of 1-2 years old “outside in the cold (50ºF) in nothing but a diaper while in the parking lot of the complex, crying.”

When officers arrived, they found the child had been wrapped in blanket by the group of people that found the toddler to keep them warm, and the group told officers the child may have come from a known apartment number, which was redacted in the report. Officers had possibly seen this child before.

“Officers noticed that the child had looked familiar from previous interactions at the address and began attempting to confirm the address through previous history,” the report states.

While officers tried contacting a resident in the apartment unit the child believed to have come from, a neighbor gave officers the phone number of the toddler’s mother, Griffin. Dispatch was able to contact Griffin and told her of the situation, and Griffin reportedly told dispatchers that she was rushing home “because she observed officers on the doorbell camera and was concerned for her child,” the report states.

Griffin arrived with a friend to the scene and told officers the toddler was supposed to be with a babysitter. Griffin also led officers into her apartment for a check, and the report states officers observed “many dishes in the sink that were caked in food…an extensive amount of clothing piled up in the laundry room that completely covered the floor, and the washer and dryer… fly traps with numerous flies contained…urine stains on one of the children’s beds…and a dog locked in the bathroom with feces all throughout the bathroom.”

Griffin told officers the name of the supposed babysitter, whom she claimed to have met on Facebook, but officers after many attempts to reach her with a given phone number, Facebook profile, call history as well as doorbell camera history, were unable to confirm her existence. Griffin also stated that the toddler sleeps through the night, “giving off the indication that Kaaernitha believed she would sleep throughout the night and not need supervision,” the report states.

Officers then advised Griffin of her Miranda Rights and she agreed to continue speaking with them. When officers asked Griffin where she had been when her child was found alone, the report states she told them she had been in Knoxville with her friend, “driving around.”

Based on lack of proof that the child had safe supervision while Griffin was away from the residence, SPD officers decided to take Griffin into custody for Child Neglect. Griffin reportedly resisted arrest and refused to comply with officers’ commands. She was eventually taken to the Sevier County Jail and charged.

A second child of Griffin’s was also found, they were supposedly staying in the apartments across from the incident location, the report stated. Both children were released to the custody of a person whose name was redacted from the report, with the approval by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) supervisor.

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