Florida Mom Left 4 Kids Home Alone for Cruise?

We have to talk about this absolutely shocking scene, four children alone inside an apartment, one of them just two months old. So where in the world was their mom? Police say she was on a three-day cruise to the Bahamas. Hi, I'm Karen Slaughter. If you love untangling mysteries and uncovering the truth behind what really happened, I think you'll love The Good Daughter. Now my best-selling novel is finally coming to life and I got to write every episode. You should have died in them woods. Your father should have been a better shot. Starring Rose Byrne, Megan Fahey, and Brendan Gleeson. From page to screen, don't miss The Good Daughter, now streaming only on Peacock. I'm here, Charlie, and I'm not going away. It says she went on a cruise and left her children home alone. Including a two-month-old baby. And when she got back, detectives were waiting for her on the dock. We're on the case presented by Law & Crime. I'm Chris Stewart. I want you to imagine this for a second because it's hard to wrap your mind around the allegations of this story. But for parents who have four kids, and that's a lot, you have an infant that requires around-the-clock care. It is overwhelming. You never get time to your self. So you can see why a parent would maybe want to go on a cruise, little getaway, just a three-day cruise to the Bahamas. Nothing really unusual about that, right? Well, let's talk about this woman, Natalie Belazer, and what she is accused of doing. According to the Miami-Dade County Sheriff's Office in Florida, she is accused of leaving her kids at home while she went on that cruise. All four of her children, home alone, and she's on the high seas. Now, we're not just talking about teenagers here. That's a big part of this story. She's on the high seas. One of them was just a two-month-old baby. Another was just two years old, a toddler, completely incapable of fending for themselves and completely helpless. I mean, who would do something like this? Again, it's hard to wrap your mind around. Police were called to Belazer's home, where these children were allegedly left, and when they walk in, what they found inside raised even more questions. Belazer was arrested, and she had a striking moment when she faced a judge who seemed just as stunned as we are allegations. So, here's what we know, and this is straight from the arrest affidavit that we have here. This story starts on September 24th, and according to police, the father of the two-month-old daughter is looking at Belazer's WhatsApp story, and he sees what looks like a carnival cruise ticket. So, he calls her to see what's up, and she tells him, don't worry. She's going to drop the kids off with their great-grandmother before she leaves town. Well, according to police, she never allegedly dropped those children off, and two days later, on September 26th, that father goes to her apartment, and here's what the complaint says that he found, quote, observed the television through the blinds, and he heard the children talking inside, and that's when he called 911. North Miami Beach Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue respond to the scene, and the complaint states, quote, due to the circumstances and concern for the welfare of the children, MDFR personnel made forced entry into the apartment, and what happened next was captured on body cam. I want you to listen to the moment that officers entered the apartment, and began looking for the children. What was the thought process, if these allegations are true, for this mom to think it was okay to go do this? It makes no sense. Police say all four children were hiding alone in a bathroom. Police did speak to the great-grandmother, the woman who Bella Zare allegedly told the infant's father where the kids were going to be while she was on this cruise, but according to police, that great-grandmother confirmed the worst. The children were never brought to her. Investigators also learned something else. They say that Bella Zare's brother was also on scene, and he told police that around 8 p.m. that same night, he got a text from Bella Zare instructing him to check on her children, but by then, she was already out on the water. Now, the investigation revealed that Bella Zare had purchased a three-day Carnival cruise ticket to the Bahamas with a sale date of September 25th. So, she was aboard the Carnival Conquest, according to court records, and on September 28th, this ship then returns to Port Miami, and there on the docks, waiting for this mom, were detectives. The moment Bella Zare stepped off the ship, she was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and she was turned over to the North Miami Beach Police. She went on this three-day getaway, they say, and she came back to an arrest. She was brought to the police department for questioning, and according to investigators, she declined to give a statement. Court records show that she was charged with a robbery, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime. The court records say she went to the hospital, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime. The court records say she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, appearance and needless to say the judge was pretty surprised all right now we have natalie and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, and that she was arrested on the eve of the crime, bella there hello ma'am good morning you were arrested for four counts of child neglect i will appoint the public defender's office for you. Let me review. You cannot make this up. And you can hear the judge's disbelief as she starts reading through these allegations. She's going to drop them off at the mother's house, but never did. These poor kids, we're home alone for three days. I guess there's probable cause for child neglect. we're just grateful nothing worse happened to these kids judge miss belazer denies these allegations of course she does one baby the baby was born in july of this year who leaves a baby alone like that i guess you have the four kids i can understand okay and you can see belazer she stood up there in her orange jumpsuit wiping away her tears as she listened to these disturbing allegations but the judge wasn't done judge i would ask for either free trial services with an alternate bond, please. Okay. And if you would agree to supervise visitation. I don't think I want to do that. Who leaves the kids, four little kids alone? Judge, it's an allegation at this time. To go on a cruise. Judge, at this time, it's only an allegation. She denies the allegation. They arrested her disembarking from the cruise ship. I understand that, Judge. There are other people that are also responsible. There's not just mothers that are in charge of children, Judge. They're also fathers and grandparents and other people. So we see the mother always knows who their children are. Fathers may not know. I'm entering a stay away order from the children until TCF can investigate. We did some digging into Natalie Belizer's past, and it turns out this was not her first time in custody. In January of last year, she was arrested for allegedly pepper spraying her neighbor in the face. Prosecutors say she confronted a woman over claims that she was harassing bella's daughter then went into her apartment grabbed a can of pepper spray and sprayed that neighbor in both eyes court records show that she was charged with aggravated battery but the outcome of that case is unclear now as for this current case the children are now in foster care which is tragic bella's there hasn't entered a plea she is due back in court on november 24th for her arraignment join us now to talk more about this former prosecutor Dan Shore. You know, this is a case where you're just like, you read the headline, you're like, this can't be real that someone would actually and of course, it's, it's alleged, just leave for kids and children that are that young to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. You've seen though, like, sadly, I mean, kind of in your work, like you have to see neglect cases, you have to work those cases, just like what stands out to you about this one? Well, certainly for children should not be left home alone. And it seems like it was allegedly for multiple days. The youngest was two months old. So that is a major, major problem. I think that one thing to consider is that the defendant here and her lawyer were saying in court that these children were supposed to be watched by the great grandmother of the kids. Now, I assume the prosecutor does not believe that because the prosecutor wouldn't bring charges if they thought that. But that is something to consider, whether that's true, whether is a defense here. The father of the children seemed to say that he didn't think that that was accurate. But I would like hopefully as the case develops, we'll learn more about whether or not someone was supposed to be. supposed to be. But regardless, even if you leave your children in the care of someone else, you should check in on them and not just leave for a cruise and have four kids that you don't know that they're alone. Yeah. I mean, it feels like, like, at least we haven't heard of it, that there was any sort of like handoff that was done. You know, if you have kids and like you have in-laws that are going to come, um, look after your kids, it's not like you're going to, especially kids that young be like, Hey, I'm going to head out there in the bathroom. Uh, just whenever you come over, um, that just doesn't seem to be what seemed to be what happened. Um, in this case, based on what's been alleged, but from like a criminal standpoint, and this is more just a general question, like at what point, you know, and I know that there are laws on the books as far as like how old someone would need to be to actually be able to stay home. Clearly, if you're talking about a two-year-old and a two-month-old, um, not even close to where that would be, but like, how does the criminality of something change based on that time where like she was gone for a couple of days. I believe it was a three-day cruise to the Bahamas. Um, this wasn't just stepping out for an hour or, you know, doing something. It was definitely, you know, going across the street to the neighbor's house for a period of time. But like, typically in these cases, like as a prosecutor, what goes into your mind about how you handle a case? Now, my best-selling novel is finally coming to life and I got to write every episode. Your father should have been a better man. I should have been a better shot. And especially when you look at that time part of it. Sure. So generally neglect statutes deal with reckless or negligent or intentional conduct that puts at risk a child either for physical harm or emotional harm. And in terms of what, who can be left alone and at what age, different states have had different standards for that. And there's different ways of investigating. There's different ways of implementing these laws, but there's no bright line rule generally about after a certain age, you can be left alone. After a certain age, you can't. But there's no doubt that a two-month-old infant clearly should not be there without a caregiver who's an adult and can take care of that two-month-old for obvious reasons. So I don't think anyone would say that it was okay that these four kids were left alone, including a two-month-old and a two-year-old. The question for the defense is, was there someone else who was supposed to be an adult responsible who then shirked their responsibility? And that's why this mother left. But even so, a mother shouldn't leave for an extended period of time without following up and making sure that the children are in good hands. So there's a line that's not a bright line, but this is clearly across that line. That's for sure. Yeah. And the father of, I believe it was the infant, says that he saw a Carnival Cruise ticket on Snapchat. So it's like she was flexing that she was going on this vacation. And then he's like, well, what's going on with the kids? And that's where she tells this story, according to court records, about the great grandmother. Like what happens? I know the kids are now currently in foster care. She's been able to post bond. I think it was $2,500 per child on this neglect charge. So she posted a bond of like $10,000, which like if it's a, you know, you're able to get a bail bond for that. It's not really that much. But what happens to the kids now? Like how do you determine where they go? Well, there's a foster care system that might take in the kids, but usually there's a child welfare agency that has to make a determination separate from the criminal charges of whether there's a removal of the children from the home. So if she's convicted of child neglect, that certainly makes it more likely that they would be removed. But even if someone's not convicted of criminal charges, there could be an independent investigation from the local child welfare organization to say there's been neglect. And there's other remedies short of removal also there could be enhanced monitoring. There can be other measures put in place to try to make sure that the mother is acting responsibly, maybe educational classes about parenting and responsibility. So there's a lot that goes into it, but ultimately children can be removed. They are removed from situations where the government agency feels they're in a dangerous situation. They can be put in foster care. They can be adopted by other people. I mean, here there is a father who seems to be somewhat involved. There's a great grandmother who's been mentioned. She might be too old to care for four children. That's a real burden, both physically and mentally. But it seems like there are family members in the picture who could potentially get custody of the children. If it's not full custody, maybe the mother would have partial custody. So those are different options, but there has to be an investigation, not only from the criminal justice authorities, but also from child welfare. You know, what she's accused of is not good by any means, but this is not like a child abuse case where you have someone, you know, physically attacking a child. And unfortunately, you and I have talked about like those types of cases, but she's able to post this bond and the kids are currently with the state. But like, as this case goes forward, I don't think she's due back in court until like November. Like, is it possible, and maybe this has already happened, but is it possible the kids could be put back in her care, even though she's facing charges of neglect and they're the victims in that case? It could, it's probably up to the criminal court judge and what the prosecutor's asking for. Often when there's a charge of neglect, there's an order of protection issued where the defendant can't contact the children who were the subject of the alleged neglect, but often a judge can make certain carve outs in that order of protection because it's not just about the defendants. It's also about these four children that even if they were neglected, they're going to want to see their mother. So there usually is some kind of accommodation worked out. So in addition to being neglected while their mother was allegedly leaving them alone to go to a cruise, you also don't want to make a situation where these four children all of a sudden never see their mother for an extended period of time. And these are really complex. So often there's an agreement between the prosecutor and child welfare and the defense to either have visitation or there's some other kind of monitoring that's put in place, but these are complex situations and there's no easy answer. No, they're incredibly complex. And as much as there's this sense of, you know, looking at the allegations and you're like, what were you thinking? You know, that you could, you know, even if there's a miscarriage, like clearly the handoff didn't happen. If you love untangling mysteries and uncovering the truth behind what really happened, I think you'll love "The Good Daughter." Charlie, go! Sam! From page to screen, don't miss "The Good Daughter," now streaming only on Peacock. And to the great-grandmother, clearly the information about this cruise was not handed off to the father of the infant who apparently they were close enough that he could have access to being able to see like Snapchat stories and stuff like that. But at the same time, like as far as like any mitigating factors, I mean, being a single parent and it appears that she is that, that's really hard. And I'm not saying it's an excuse for this. I don't think there really is an excuse for it, but what are the mitigating factors in cases like this that actually have a positive impact on a defendant? Because I know that there's also often cases we'll talk about where a defense attorney throws something out and you're like, yeah, okay, like that's not going to work. But, you know, what typically in these cases from what you've seen can be the type of argument where a judge can see some level of sympathy, even if you have incredibly brazen accusations like what these are? The only mitigating factor I can think of is if the mother thought that someone else who was a responsible adult was going to monitor and be with these children and maybe she should have done more to check if that was really happening and she didn't. That might be a mitigating factor, but there's no doubt that for children, especially a two month old, a two year old should not be there without a responsible adult and their mother should not be traveling away without them. So if she did that without having a responsible adult in place, then I don't see any mitigating factors that are going to make that more okay. But if she just was not responsible and how she made sure that another person such as a great grandmother was there, she might still have criminal responsibility, but maybe there's a mitigating factor. If she in good faith thought that there was someone responsible going to be there. Otherwise, I really don't see much that she can say if it's really true that she just went on a cruise and left four kids, including some that are that young alone. Yeah. And you just wonder if there's parts of the story that we don't know. And there always is. But, you know, the idea that a two month old could be kept alone for three days, even if you have, I think the oldest we were talking before is characterized as preteen. So it's like, was a 12 year old, and I don't know if that's their age, like a 12 year old doing the feedings and making sure that this, you know, two month old was there. Yeah, that's a really good point. And I think that's a really good point, because it's fortunate that this story did not take an even more grim turn. It's kind of a shocking story, but like it very well could have been an incredibly tragic story. You know, if that infant wasn't fed properly, or something had happened in the home during the 72 hours, apparently, this mom was away. Is this the type of case where she could go to prison? And I'm sure like it's possible the maximum would be prison time, potentially. But like, in cases like this, like a neglect case, how often do you see the person who's charged actually get time? In a case like this, I would suspect that there might be some kind of incarceration. But I would doubt if it's going to be a state prison lengthy sentence here, I think the more serious consequence might be removal of the children from her life. And you know, that's very serious, obviously, if someone will lose control of the four children that they have. But a lot of it depends on if there's acceptance of responsibility, if there's prior criminal records, things like that. But I think it all comes back to the idea of how how egregious it is to leave, especially a two-month-old alone, to care for a two-month-old old, you know, I've been there, you've been there. It takes a lot of specialized understanding and caring and it is complex. It's not like babysitting for, let's say, a five-year-old where maybe you could put them on a couch and watch TV for a few hours, right? It's not that simple. There's a lot of dangerous things that can happen with a two-month-old. You have to really understand, like you said, the feeding, the care, things like that. So you need an adult who's responsible and can handle that and is aware of those issues. And if that wasn't done here, that's going to be really serious. But if the defendant can say they thought someone else was in charge, they thought the great-grandmother was there, that could be a viable defense. That seems what they're starting to assert. But still, there might be some responsibility for not making sure that was actually happening. Even if she thought that was the case, not checking in and making sure that you don't have four children, one or two were two or young. One was two months old, one was two years old. To have them with no responsible adult and not following up, that's really dangerous. Can the culpability be shifted? And I'm just saying, I have no idea if this is going to happen. So kind of a disclaimer on this. But if it turns out that there was communication with this great-grandmother or whatever other relative maybe that she spoke to to take care of the kids, and you can think one way or another about whether she should have checked in during the time she was on this cruise. But can that be shifted in terms of law enforcement saying, well, okay, the responsibility then was put into your hands. And somehow we ended up at this house, and these kids were alone. Well, I think just in general, anyone who's supposed to be responsible for children that young, if they don't fulfill that responsibility, there's a general principle in the law that you are not responsible for taking action to support someone else unless you say you're going to help someone. And then you don't follow up with that responsibility, and people are reliant on you. So there's not a bystander responsibility to just care for another child. But if you put a situation in place where you say, I will care for someone else, or I will care for this child or these children, and then you don't, there can be criminal responsibility. We don't know if that's the case here at all, but certainly. Now my best-selling novel is finally coming to life, and I got to write every episode. The defense is insinuating that someone else might have been responsible, and I would think the prosecutors hopefully looked into that issue before bringing charges to see if that was true. Well, and the other thing I think about is this mom is, according to these allegations, willing to go on a cruise ship for three days and leave her kids behind. What else could be going on in that home? How often are these kids, being left alone? Because I know you have this incident that she's been charged for, and then you have DCF or whatever the social services organization in Dade County is going to look into it. How much investigating can actually be done by social services to make sure that this is a one-off, a pretty big one-off, but it's a one-off and not a pattern of neglect that might be going on in the house? I mean, one thing they could do is, if the mother is reunited with the children, is do regular home visits where they check in and speak with the children, speak with the mother, try to ascertain what is happening. Are they always being monitored? But can you tell 24-7? No, you can't. And that's one of the difficulties with child welfare agencies, because on the one hand, if they remove a child, that's a very, very strong move to take, and it could damage a lot of people's lives. But if you don't remove a child and then something damaging happens to them, they're often blamed. Why didn't you remove the child when you had this warning sign? It's one of the most difficult fields I have It's one of the most difficult fields to work in, because you're making these huge decisions for people's lives based on not complete information. But that's some of the steps that they can take, the monitoring, home visits, and contacting other family members who are in different roles and seeing what they know about the situation. Yeah. And I think, unfortunately, often when we're talking about social services agencies, it's on the bad days, when it's something that it turns out did not go the right way, and there are major questions about what happened. I mean, I just can't think of the burnout and the pressure that so many of the people in DCF and those organizations who I think entered the job wanting to do good, what they face every single day. Dan Shore, former prosecutor, always great to have you on Law & Crime. I know you write about a lot of your work, a lot of your stories that we talk about here. Where can people find it? Sure. My latest novel is called Open Bar. I write about misconduct investigations in a fictional way, and people could find that on Amazon, anywhere else that books are sold, they could also find me on Substack. All right. Dan Shore, former prosecutor. Great to have you on Law & Crime as always. Thanks, Dan. Thanks, Chris. Always good talking to you. That will do it for On The Case, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Chris Stewart. We'll see you next time. you