Dad charged with leaving baby in car at casino; woman who found child speaks out
CLEVELAND (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team went inside the investigation to find the suspected cover-up and the rescue after police say a dad went to the casino downtown and left a baby alone in a car.
The first charges have now been filed.
This marks just the latest case of a child left outside the casino.
Last Saturday, Cleveland police took a 911 call from Jackie Julius and her husband at a downtown parking garage.
“Someone has left their baby in a car,” Julius told dispatch. “We were pulling out and my husband happened to look back. He said, ‘there’s a baby in the car!’ I’m like, ‘What? Get out.'”
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The dispatcher found it hard to believe, asking, “you said somebody left their baby in the car?”
“We were like, yeah, this isn’t right, in a parking garage,” Julius told the I-Team. “No one else is around. Obviously, we’re going to call for help.”
“Is the baby woke?” the dispatcher asked.
“Smiling at me. I winked at him and he smiled,” the callers responded.
Cleveland police arrested Kyle Miller. They say he left his 10-month-old baby girl in a car while he and a friend went to the casino.
Miller faces charges for leaving the baby and for how he backed into a spot in the parking garage.
Records show the baby was left strapped in a car seat. Some windows were blocked by blankets.
A report also shows the father left a cell phone propped up playing cartoons. Those witnesses found a window cracked, but the doors locked.
“The doors were all locked because I would’ve opened the doors to make sure that she was OK,” Julius said.
Last year, the I-Team revealed a similar case. A father ended up hit with charges for gambling at the casino downtown while leaving a 12-year-old in a car for six hours. Now, this.
Police say Miller went back to check on the baby, but he left her alone for a total of close to two hours.
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We went to Miller’s home, and a woman holding a baby shut the door.
Julius, a mother, was happy to find the baby in this case was OK. She hopes this sends a message.
“It could’ve ended differently and thank God that it didn’t. And, we can just hope that this is a lesson learned here,” she said.
Police at the scene released the baby to a relative.
Miller had a brief court hearing on his charges. He has another hearing coming up soon.
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