On Tuesday, a 4-year-old girl left the Thirman Milner Elementary School in Hartford alone, and then proceeded to walk home alone, according to Hartford's new interim superintendent, Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez.
The mother of the young girl, Keishla Rodriguez (no relation), said she was supposed to pick up her daughter from school early, but her daughter asked to go to the bathroom while she was waiting. The girl already had her backpack and coat, and the school let her go to the bathroom herself. That's when she left the halls.
“There should’ve been a grown up when they sent my daughter to the bathroom, cause she didn't go down to the bathroom, she went down the hall ,past the hall office, past the main office and just went out the door,” Rodriguez said.
The girl started her half-mile walk home, and eve crossed a busy intersection at Bedford Street, but at that point a good Samaritan saw her and intervened.
“A lady showed up with her at my door crying and screaming,” Rodriguez said. The woman walked the child the rest of the way home so she'd be safe.
She said she’s thankful her little one is home safe, but says her daughter won’t be returning to that school.
“I'm not putting her back in that school, I'm putting her in a safe school where she's protected, nothing could happen to her and she won't do that mistake again, like she won't do that ever again,” Rodriguez said.
The Hartford Police Department and Department of Children and Families are both investigating how the child was able to leave school alone without being noticed.
