Authorities said a mother in Florida has been charged after day care staff found a handgun inside her 2-year-old son’s lunchbox.
Shanae Davis, 39, faces several charges including allowing a minor to obtain a firearm and child neglect after a teacher at Jackson’s Daycare Center in Riviera Beach opened the lunch box with a 9mm Glock 43 handgun inside it.
According to police documents, the discovery caused concern by the teachers. Parents who later learned about the incident were also stunned, WPEC reported.
"It's scary," Stephenne Warembourg told the outlet. "I mean, you know when I'm sending my kid to school thinking that he's going to be safe? I mean, are they? I don't know."
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According to the Riviera Beach Police Department, Davis confirmed to investigators that the gun was hers and that she normally keeps the gun in her vehicle’s glove box.
However, lately, she has been taking the gun inside her apartment after the complex has seen several break-ins.
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Court documents show on the night of March 14, the 39-year-old mother placed the gun inside her son’s lunchbox to bring it inside, as she told authorities that she does not carry a purse.
The mother then said she forgot to take it out the following morning.
Police were subsequently called to the day care facility and responded promptly. Davis was later arrested but, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's records, the mother was released on Friday, March 15, after posting bail.
West Palm Beach Police spokesman Mike Jachels reminded the importance of gun safety in a statement to Telemundo 51 Miami, saying such an oversight or carelessness can have fatal consequences.
Fortunately, in this case, no one was injured.
According to Telemundo Miami, the owner of the day care chose not to file charges against the mother. The state prosecutor's office, however, decided to do so.
