JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 3-year-old girl who was last seen on Ken Knight Drive around 2:30 p.m. Sunday was found safe just before 8 a.m. Monday about 2 miles away in Northwest Jacksonville, News 6 partner WJXT-TV reported.
The girl’s mother and aunt told News4JAX she was believed to be with her grandfather, 49-year-old Jamall Mayfield, who did not have permission to have custody of the little girl.
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“(She) is the sweetest baby ever. She’s full of life, full of smiles, smart, and is going to talk your head off for sure,” her mother said when the girl was still missing. “I just want my baby. That is all. That’s it. I can’t think without my baby. I want my baby.”
Jamya Mayfield, the girl’s mother, asked us not to name the child now that she’s been found safe.
She told News4JAX that she dropped her daughter off at her babysitter, whose apartment is the Ken Knight Drive location where the girl had last been seen.
The girl’s grandfather then showed up there, according to Jamya Mayfield and the girl’s aunt, Erquandra Collier. They said Jamall Mayfield walked in, took the child and walked out.
Jamya Mayfield said her father, Jamall Mayfield, was intoxicated and did not have permission from her to pick her daughter up from the babysitter. He does not drive and is hard of hearing, the family said.
The babysitter called Jamya about what happened, and she and Collier immediately came to the area and tried to look for the girl and Jamall.
When they could not find them after about 2 or 3 hours, they called the police.
“I knocked door-to-door, canvassing hotels where they said that he had been. I have been knocking on every door everywhere. Nothing. I just want my baby home,” Jamya Mayfield said.
Jamya Mayfield indicated when her daughter was still missing that she would not press charges as long her daughter was returned.
“I don’t have any problems with him. I don’t want anything harmful happening to him. I don’t even want police to take him to jail if that is what he’s afraid of,” she said. “Just bring my baby. That’s all. Just bring my baby because you had no right to take my baby. No permission to take my baby.”
The girl was reportedly found safe Monday morning at an apartment complex on Cleveland Road, along with her grandfather.