More Child Abuse Charges For Hialeah Parents

MIAMI - (CBS4) - The two Hialeah parents who were accused of child neglect after their 2-year-old son was found living in filth and food deprived in a motel now face additional charges.

State prosecutors filed the charges Tuesday in court and now both Vincent Collins, 25, and Savannah Sholter, 21, face two counts of child neglect/great harm and two counts of child neglect, no great bodily harm each.  

Collins appeared before a judge Tuesday, but said nothing. Sholter was not present during Tuesday's hearing. Both remain behind bars.

Earlier this month, a family court judge ordered that they have no contact with either of their two children: a one-year-old son and two-year-old son.

Irma Martinez, a woman who said she was a family friend and knew the parents for a year. She said after calling the DCF she wasn't sure if any action was taken.

Martinez said she noticed the child was not being fed.

 "(The children) were dirty," Martinez said. "I use to bring them to my house and my daughters and me, we used to bathe them and clean them. We had clean clothes for them and feed them. We also learned how to feed them because she was not feeding him."

 She said she was angry.

"Of course it made me angry," she said. "It makes me feel like all of us have to be more involved…you know, special needs kids need more help than any other kids."

Martinez, who called the DCF in September, said she told the DCF about the condition of both children.

"They just were in such bad shape and needed help," she said. "I felt I had to call...to do something. These children have to be protected. And this is what I had to do."

 The child was hospitalized in intensive care last September.

Martinez said she met Collins and Sholter at the ARC School, which helps children with special needs.

She said she was not surprised after the two were charged with child neglect.

The situation came to light early in March when Hialeah police spokesman Detective Eddie Rodriguez said they received a frantic call on Saturday from Sholter who told the emergency operator that her two-year old son was not breathing and unresponsive at the Rainbow Inn Motel near West Okeechobee Road.