HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Henrico police have made an arrest after an employee spotted a 4-year-old alone near a grocery store on Nine Mile Road.
"The child needs to be supervised in an area like this," said Nikita Brown who is a mother of two.
Employees told CBS 6 off camera that it happened at the Food Lion back in June. They said the child was spotted on the side of the store wandering around by himself before someone saw him outside and brought him inside the store.
"How could you leave a four-year-old unattended for that period of time where they wandered this far?" said one parent.
On Wednesday, police arrested 30-year-old Alexus Harris and charged her with child neglect. Police said she was supposed to be watching the child at the time and is a family member of the child.
CBS 6 spoke with Damien Temple on Thursday. He said he's a friend of Harris and the uncle of the four-year-old. He said his friend is a good person and the incident was a misunderstanding.
"The kids were in the house sleeping. She ran to the house to get some noodles for them to eat and when she came back he had walked to the store," said Temple.
Still, parents said this should serve as a lesson to always keep an eye on any child.
"You never know in a blink of an eye everything could go wrong, even if you turn your back for one second."
