A North Miami Beach mother was taken into custody at PortMiami on September 28 as she stepped off Carnival Conquest, three days after she sailed on a Bahamas cruise that police say she took while her four young children were home alone.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, faces four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, a third-degree felony in Florida, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Miami-Dade County. The children, including a two-month-old infant and a two-year-old, were found alone inside her apartment on September 26.
Belizaire has not been convicted. Her attorney told the court she denies the allegations.
What the arrest affidavit says
According to the affidavit, the father of Belizaire’s two-month-old saw a post on her WhatsApp story on September 24 showing what appeared to be a ticket purchase for a Carnival cruise. When he spoke with her that day, she told him she would drop the children off with their great-grandmother.
On September 26, he went to her apartment, saw the television on through the blinds and heard the children talking inside. He called 911.
Concerned for the children’s welfare, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue forced entry into the apartment, where all four children were found hiding together in the bathroom.
The great-grandmother told investigators that Belizaire had said she was going out of town but never brought the children to her home.
Belizaire’s brother told officers that at about 8 p.m. that evening, he received a text from her asking him to check on the children. Officers made multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach her.
Arrested as she disembarked
Investigators determined Belizaire had purchased a three-day Bahamas sailing on Carnival Conquest that departed PortMiami on September 25.
When the ship returned on September 28, North Miami Beach detectives and a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office detective were waiting at the port.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection took Belizaire into custody during the debarkation process and turned her over to North Miami Beach police. She declined to give a statement and invoked her right to remain silent.
Carnival told The Independent that Customs and Border Protection escorted a guest off the ship on arrival. “This was a law enforcement matter unrelated to the cruise or the operation of the ship, and we refer questions regarding the case to the appropriate law enforcement authorities,” the cruise line said.
Bond set at $10,000
Belizaire appeared in bond court on Tuesday before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer, who set bond at $10,000 and ordered her to stay away from the children.
“I’m just grateful nothing worse happened to these kids,” Glazer said, according to NBC Miami.
The judge described the children as home alone for three days. The affidavit states they were found on September 26, the day after the ship sailed.
Belizaire posted bond and was released Tuesday night. Authorities said the children are safe and in foster care. Her public defender has filed a written plea of not guilty.
Under Florida law, each third-degree felony count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Not the first case of its kind
In April 2024, Houston mother Lakesha Woods Williams was charged with child abandonment after authorities said she left her 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son home alone while she flew to Miami for a cruise to Puerto Rico. Neighbors alerted authorities in that case, and she was arrested after returning home.
