COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia woman faces criminal charges after police say she abandoned her six-month-old daughter at a Jiffy Lube last Saturday morning.
Laraven Davis was arrested on charges of child abandonment and reckless conduct following the incident.
The incident began when Davis approached employees at the auto maintenance center with her infant in a stroller. Davis told staff members she had personal business to attend to and asked them to watch the baby girl. Emergency services were notified immediately after Davis made concerning statements and left the property.
Jarayya Mayes, an assistant manager at the Jiffy Lube, described the initial encounter with Davis. “She just kept saying, ‘The paperwork is in the bag. You guys can just have her if I don’t make it back.’ Once she said that, red flags immediately,” Mayes said.
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Approximately 15 minutes after walking away from the store, Davis returned to the facility armed with a knife and demanded the child. Mayes recalled Davis frantically searching for the infant. “Where’s the baby? I need the baby. I gotta go, I gotta go. Some stuff just went down. I gotta go,” Mayes said Davis told store employees.
Emergency dispatchers instructed the store employees to keep the child safe and prevent Davis from leaving with the infant. “911 most definitely said, do not let her leave with a baby,” Mayes said. Officers responded to the scene and placed Davis under arrest before taking her to jail, while emergency personnel rushed the six-month-old baby girl to a hospital to be evaluated.
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