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Florida mom ‘tired of watching baby,’ left infant with girl, 12, to drink Coronas with minor, cops say

CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) – A Clearwater mother accused of leaving her baby with a 12-year-old girl while she drank Coronas with a minor told police she was “lazy and tired of watching the baby.”

According to an affidavit, witnesses observed Rocio Avila-Pena drinking alcoholic beverages with the minor, whose age was not disclosed. They said the minor was allowed free access to her supply of Corona Light. During this time, Avila-Pena and the minor left the child in the hands of a 12-year-old girl. Detectives said the minor had a blood alcohol content of .096.

The 12-year-old’s father told authorities the child had never been left alone with the baby and is obviously not suitable to care for an infant alone.

Avila-Pena was arrested Tuesday and charged with child neglect. While in custody, she told a Spanish-speaking detective she “deliberately left the child in the 12-year-old’s care because she was lazy and tired of watching the baby,” the affidavit states, but she claims accusations she gave the minor alcohol were false.

She was booked into the Pinellas County Jail where she’s being held on a $2,000 bond.

No further details are available at this time.