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Archive Search Result GIRL, 11, PEDDLED HEROIN FOR MOM, POLICE SAY SUSAN ANASAGASTI AND LARRY LEBOWITZ, [email protected] PUBLICATION: The Miami Herald SECTION: Front DATE: January 6, 2004 EDITION: Final Page: 1A
The 11-year-old girl skipped out of her South Miami-Dade home in her school clothes. In the evenings she met walkup traffic in her baby-blue nightgown with little yellow flowers. Her job, police say: pushing heroin. The child described by officers as one of the youngest heroin dealers in South Florida history is in state custody. Officers said the girl peddled drugs on behalf of her mother. Since she is large for her age, police say they were surprised the girl was much younger than they first thought. ``It was disturbing,'' South Miami police narcotics Sgt. Ruben Rodriguez said. ``Once we found out the real age of that child we were in utter shock. . . . We knew we were dealing with a baby, but we originally thought she was around 15.'' Her mother, Alison Lolanda Davis, 36, is facing numerous drug-possession and trafficking charges after the Friday night raid by South Miami police, Drug Enforcement Administration agents and the Coral Gables SWAT team. A 60-year-old man who may be married to Davis and lived in the house is at large and wanted by police. Police, acting on an informant's tip, started watching the area in October. Surveillance teams saw the girl regularly sell $10 and $20 hits of heroin in front of the house before undercover detectives and agents made direct purchases from the girl. ``On several occasions we saw the young girl dealing,'' Rodriguez said. Sometimes, officers said, the child sold to passing motorists and other times to walk-up customers. ``The first time she was wearing a school uniform. The second time she was wearing her nightgown,'' Rodriguez said. Investigators say they were particularly troubled during one of their undercover buys when they asked the girl for three bags of heroin instead of the two she carried. ``The girl said she needed to check with her mom,'' one investigator said. Detectives and prosecutors expect to meet on Thursday to decide whether she will face criminal charges. Rodriguez said there's a good chance she won't be charged. ``Everything stems on the mom,'' he said. IN DCF CUSTODY The girl was initially taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center but was released to the state Department of Children & Families rather than detained at the juvenile jail. The DCF had already taken Davis' 7-year-old daughter into temporary custody. ``It was an act of mercy,'' Rodriguez said of the decision to release the 11-year-old to the DCF. ``We wanted little sister to be with her big sister. Everything that had happened was already traumatizing enough.''
A juvenile dependency court hearing is set for 1 p.m. today at which a judge will set up a long-term foster care plan for the sisters, DCF spokesman Peter D. Coats said. The mother is being held at the Turner-Guilford-Knight jail on multiple drug-possession and trafficking charges, and an outstanding shoplifting warrant, pending a Jan. 23 arraignment. Police with a search warrant discovered 10 grams of heroin, two grams of crack cocaine, 10 Xanax pills and two grams of marijuana in the home at 5822 SW 61 St. They also retrieved a scale, spoons, syringes, plastic baggies, a safe, $1,300 in cash, a rifle and other drug paraphernalia from the house. GIRLS IN DANGER Police said they will ask prosecutors to tack on neglect or exploitation charges for putting the girls in danger. Records indicate that the mother has five prior arrests between 1991 and 2000 for charges ranging from shoplifting and petty theft to aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon. ``In this case, recklessness and greed served to endanger a child,'' South Miami Police Capt. Greg Feldman said. ``Any claims [Davis] makes saying that she did this to feed her children goes out the window, because she put her 11-year-old in the line of fire.'' Juvenile justice experts said an 11-year-old drug dealer is not unique, but fairly rare, even in a large metropolitan area like South Florida. ``We have kids being used as decoys, or couriers, or making actual sales, usually fronting for someone else on the street, usually an adult,'' DEA Miami spokesman Joe Kilmer said. Only three children under 12 - a 10-year-old and two 12-year-olds - have been criminally charged since 1997 with drug-trafficking offenses, according to statistics compiled by the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center. Children involved in drug crimes, generally, receive services, counseling and foster care rather than jail terms, the experts say. Neighbor John Olah said drug dealing is common in the neighborhood. ``There are a lot of crack dealers around here and it's really easy to see, but I was surprised to hear that an 11-year-old was selling drugs,'' he said.
The 11-year-old girl skipped out of her South Miami-Dade home in her school clothes. In the evenings she met walkup traffic in her baby-blue nightgown with little yellow flowers. Her job, police say: pushing heroin. The child described by officers as one of the youngest heroin dealers in South Florida history is in state custody. Officers said the girl peddled drugs on behalf of her mother. Since she is large for her age, police say they were surprised the girl was much younger than they first thought. ``It was disturbing,'' South Miami police narcotics Sgt. Ruben Rodriguez said. ``Once we found out the real age of that child we were in utter shock. . . . We knew we were dealing with a baby, but we originally thought she was around 15.'' Her mother, Alison Lolanda Davis, 36, is facing numerous drug-possession and trafficking charges after the Friday night raid by South Miami police, Drug Enforcement Administration agents and the Coral Gables SWAT team. A 60-year-old man who may be married to Davis and lived in the house is at large and wanted by police. Police, acting on an informant's tip, started watching the area in October. Surveillance teams saw the girl regularly sell $10 and $20 hits of heroin in front of the house before undercover detectives and agents made direct purchases from the girl. ``On several occasions we saw the young girl dealing,'' Rodriguez said. Sometimes, officers said, the child sold to passing motorists and other times to walk-up customers. ``The first time she was wearing a school uniform. The second time she was wearing her nightgown,'' Rodriguez said. Investigators say they were particularly troubled during one of their undercover buys when they asked the girl for three bags of heroin instead of the two she carried. ``The girl said she needed to check with her mom,'' one investigator said. Detectives and prosecutors expect to meet on Thursday to decide whether she will face criminal charges. Rodriguez said there's a good chance she won't be charged. ``Everything stems on the mom,'' he said. IN DCF CUSTODY The girl was initially taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center but was released to the state Department of Children & Families rather than detained at the juvenile jail. The DCF had already taken Davis' 7-year-old daughter into temporary custody. ``It was an act of mercy,'' Rodriguez said of the decision to release the 11-year-old to the DCF. ``We wanted little sister to be with her big sister. Everything that had happened was already traumatizing enough.''
A juvenile dependency court hearing is set for 1 p.m. today at which a judge will set up a long-term foster care plan for the sisters, DCF spokesman Peter D. Coats said. The mother is being held at the Turner-Guilford-Knight jail on multiple drug-possession and trafficking charges, and an outstanding shoplifting warrant, pending a Jan. 23 arraignment. Police with a search warrant discovered 10 grams of heroin, two grams of crack cocaine, 10 Xanax pills and two grams of marijuana in the home at 5822 SW 61 St. They also retrieved a scale, spoons, syringes, plastic baggies, a safe, $1,300 in cash, a rifle and other drug paraphernalia from the house. GIRLS IN DANGER Police said they will ask prosecutors to tack on neglect or exploitation charges for putting the girls in danger. Records indicate that the mother has five prior arrests between 1991 and 2000 for charges ranging from shoplifting and petty theft to aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon. ``In this case, recklessness and greed served to endanger a child,'' South Miami Police Capt. Greg Feldman said. ``Any claims [Davis] makes saying that she did this to feed her children goes out the window, because she put her 11-year-old in the line of fire.'' Juvenile justice experts said an 11-year-old drug dealer is not unique, but fairly rare, even in a large metropolitan area like South Florida. ``We have kids being used as decoys, or couriers, or making actual sales, usually fronting for someone else on the street, usually an adult,'' DEA Miami spokesman Joe Kilmer said. Only three children under 12 - a 10-year-old and two 12-year-olds - have been criminally charged since 1997 with drug-trafficking offenses, according to statistics compiled by the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center. Children involved in drug crimes, generally, receive services, counseling and foster care rather than jail terms, the experts say. Neighbor John Olah said drug dealing is common in the neighborhood. ``There are a lot of crack dealers around here and it's really easy to see, but I was surprised to hear that an 11-year-old was selling drugs,'' he said.
