A mother accused of leaving her 4-year-old daughter alone all day was arrested following a daylong search after someone spotted the young child wandering alone in Hartford on Tuesday morning.
Patrol officers responded to 182 Collins Street in Hartford around 10:08 a.m. on Tuesday after a driver noticed the 4-year-old girl wandering alone.
Police determined the girl, 4-year-old Shafyalya Nicks, lived on Collins Street and officers searched the apartment, but it was vacant.
Police said it appears the little girl was alone for quite some time, dressed herself and tried to make herself something to eat.
With the little girl safe, police focused efforts on finding the child's 22-year-old mother, Shi'day Nicks.
Police learned that Nicks was previously listed as living on Orange Street in Springfield, Massachusetts and 23rd Street in Meridian, Mississippi, but mail at the Collins Street address indicated that a Shi'day Nicks lives at the home too.
Neighbors told police that Shi'day Nicks recently moved into the apartment building and said they don't know her well.
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Officers eventually found her on Tuesday night in Hartford and said she apparently left her daughter alone for "lifestyle reasons."
Police arrested her at 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday and charged her with risk of injury to a minor, reckless endangerment and leaving a child under the age of 12 unsupervised.
Shafyalya was healthy, police said, but officers turned her over to the care of Connecticut's Department of Children and Families and are investigating the circumstances of Shi'day's absence while her daughter was alone.
Hartford Police say they received several calls from the public, offering to care for the little girl.
Shi'day Nicks is being held on a $150,000 bond and will go before a judge on Wednesday in Hartford.
Police ask the public to contact Sgt. E. D. Braidy Jr., of the department's Special Investigations Division, at 860-757-4276 or baide001@hartford.gov if they have any information on the case.
