| Ms. Berrios is a hero. |
When a Westgate Resorts administrative assistant spotted the 7-year-old trying to serve himself cereal at the buffet in their Osceola County sales center earlier this month, the first thing she noticed was his trembling arms. They were too thin. His eyes were sunken.
"He was really skinny," said Westgate employee Hilda Berrios. "He looked like one of those kids you see on TV." "As I focused, looking on him, I noticed the bruises and the cuts. I just kept noticing one thing after another. I was like, this isn't right."
Berrios contacted her manager, who contacted Westgate security, which called the Sheriff's Office. The Department of Children and Families on Tuesday said Berrios and two other employees -- Steve Siegel and Humberto Garcia -- likely saved the boy's life.
The boy, who was alone when Berrios spotted him, had a large bruise on his temple and dried blood on his head. His legs were black and blue. Berrios asked the boy if he knew where his mom was. He didn't. She asked if he could spot her in the room. "There was no one," she said. "No one."
Two Baker County women who cared for the boy, Suzette Renee Stevenson, 45, and her girlfriend, Jamie Lynn Martin, 26, are accused of leaving the child in a car while they toured Westgate's time-shares Nov. 6. Each woman was arrested on charges of aggravated child abuse. Martin is being held at the Columbia County Jail, and Stevenson is jailed in Baker County.
Neither Stevenson nor Martin is the boy's biological mother. Stevenson told an Osceola deputy she was his adoptive mother and that the boy wasn't feeling well and wanted to stay in the car.
The child weighed only 37 pounds, officials said. In addition to being malnourished, DCF said, the 7-year-old, whom police did not identify, suffered head trauma, cuts and burns. He remains hospitalized and is slowly gaining weight. On Nov. 7, a court ordered DCF to take custody of the boy. Officials are trying to determine whether he has any surviving relatives.
According to Baker County Sheriff Joey B. Dobson, investigators don't know how Stevenson gained custody of the boy. What they have learned, Dobson said, is that the boy's father obtained custody of the boy in California. But the father gave the boy to his aunt, who raised him with her partner, Stevenson. Dobson said the aunt died and then Stevenson and the child moved to Baker County.
When interviewed by Baker County investigators, Stevenson and Martin blamed each other. Each said the other bound the child's wrists and nailed them to the wall, where he was forced to stand for hours. Each also accused the other of refusing to feed the boy and refusing to send him to school because they feared teachers would see his injuries.
I'm really too angry and disgusted to make any snarky comments just now. Just remember to thank Hilda Berrios, Steve Siegel, and Humberto Garcia when you sit down to that feast today.
Here are the mug shots of the two devils.