Florida parents who shared meals together and dined out at restaurants were arrested this week after police found their five children desperately hungry alone in their family home without food, electricity or a working toilet, according to an arrest affidavit.
![[Sanel Canovic, 40, and Azra Nikocevic, 33, were charged with child neglect after Miami Beach police said they found their five hungry children alone at home without food, electricity or a working toilet]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/04/00/Azra-Nikocevic-and-Sanel-Canovic.jpg)
Sanel Canovic, 40, and Azra Nikocevic, 33, were arrested New Year’s Eve and each were charged with five counts of child neglect, according to Miami-Dade jail records. The children were taken into care. The boy took the officers to the family apartment where he and his four siblings ages 12 and under were staying alone while their parents were out.
The children told police they hadn’t eaten in at least 12 hours and were hungry. The eldest, a girl, explained to the officers that they usually ate breakfast and lunch at school, but hadn’t been in school for days because of the holidays. The girl said her mom sometimes left her $20 to buy food for the children. She reportedly told police she had no way to contact her parents.
Police recounted in the affidavit obtained by NBC6 that the toilet was filled with feces. The children reportedly told them they had to use rags or take showers after using the bathroom because there was no toilet paper and the room was mess. The children were fed at the police stationhouse while officers searched for their parents.
