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FL Babysitter Drove With Infant in Truck Bed, Charged with Felony

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on August 19, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Keyona Davis not your model babysitter. Davis, 23, was arrested for felony child neglect after having a friend drive a truck through some busy streets in Florida with an 8-month old infant in the truck bed.

Davis was babysitting for a friend. The baby in the truck bed was in a stroller. 

Davis sat in the back with the stroller while the truck was moving, MSNBC reports.

For her part, Davis seemed perplexed as to why she was arrested. "It's not like they give you a handbook or anything on how - what's neglect and what's not neglect," Davis said in court according to MSNBC.

Davis' sentiment did not appear to be shared amongst many. Drivers who spotted the truck cruising down the road (with the stroller clearly visible) called 911 to report the danger, MSNBC reports.

And, recorded footage memorialized the entire event:

Davis says that she's been babysitting since she was 16, and that she didn't think putting a baby in a truck bed would be endangering a child, according to MSNBC.

Child endangerment is usually charged in cases where parents, guardians or caretakers put the child at risk, or do not provide adequate supervision.

Think about it this way. A child is in a stroller in the back of an open-air truck bed. If the truck is hit by a car, the stroller could go flying out of the truck since it's not strapped in at all. Or, the truck could hit an unexpected speed bump, causing the entire stroller to tumble out of the moving car. Is this endangerment?

Police certainly think so. Many parents would probably also agree. Keyona Davis is being held in jail on a $5,000 bond, according to The Smoking Gun. Maybe it's time for Davis to realize that putting an infant in a truck bed is not good child supervision. And, is this really something you need a handbook to tell you?

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