Parents in Davie AMBER alert arrested
8-month-old found safe at a home in Pembroke Pines
The parents of an 8-month-old who was the subject of an AMBER alert have been arrested after their infant was found safe in a Pembroke Pines home.
Jacob Howard, 34, and Arys Martinez, 34, were arrested Wednesday, the same day the Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a brief AMBER alert out of Davie for their daughter Amelia Martinez.
Howard and Martinez voluntarily gave up their parental rights of Amelia on Feb. 15. Under the court order, Howard was allowed visitations with Amelia but Martinez was not, according to a probable cause affidavit for Howard’s arrest. Amelia had been in the custody of her maternal grandmother.
Amelia had last been seen Tuesday at her daycare in Davie. Amelia’s grandmother dropped her off at daycare about 11 a.m., and Howard picked her up shortly before 2 p.m., and Davie Police said they believed Howard dropped Amelia off with her mother, Martinez.
Howard told police early Wednesday morning before the alert was issued that he had recently gotten out of a sober living facility and felt he could not take care of Amelia, the affidavit said.
Martinez was arguing with her mother and Amelia’s grandmother on Monday morning and it turned physical, the affidavit said. Martinez took Amelia and fled in her mother’s car, and Martinez’s mother called 911.
Officers found Martinez and Amelia in a shopping plaza in North Lauderdale that day, and Martinez eventually brought Amelia back to her grandmother and left, the affidavit said. On Tuesday, Martinez started arguing with Howard, threatening to have him arrested if he did not give Amelia to her.
Howard told police that he and a friend picked Amelia up on Tuesday afternoon and brought her to Martinez’s home in the 21000 block of Southwest Eighth Court in Pembroke Pines, the affidavit said.
Howard told police he was not able to contact Martinez, did not know where they were and that he was worried for the baby’s safety. The AMBER alert was approved shortly after 6 a.m., the affidavit said.
A witness contacted Davie Police after seeing the alert to
report that he saw Martinez and Amelia on Tuesday night outside of a Holiday Inn in Miami, according to a probable cause affidavit for Martinez’s arrest. The witness said Martinez got out of a white Toyota Camry while holding the baby and asked for help because she was having car trouble. The witness drove them both home, the affidavit said, though the affidavit does not specify whether the witness said where the home was located.
Pembroke Pines Police helped Davie Police retrieve Amelia from Martinez’s home Wednesday morning. A detective conducted a security sweep in the home and found a bag with a white substance in the bathroom and a rolled bill, according to the affidavit.
The baby was taken to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital as a precaution. A detective later learned that the baby’s urine tested positive for presumptive cocaine and fentanyl, the affidavit said.
Martinez in an interview with police denied that she had kidnapped the baby and denied interfering with the court custody order. She admitted to using illegal drugs but would not say which, and she first denied fleeing to Miami but then later said she was planning to flee to Spain, according to the affidavit.
Howard was held in the Broward Main Jail as of Thursday afternoon and faces one count of interference with custody of a minor and violating probation. He is on probation until July 2025 in connection with a past domestic-violence case involving Martinez.
Martinez was held in the North Broward Bureau as of Thursday afternoon and faces one count of kidnapping of a child under 13 years old with an aggravated circumstance of aggravated child abuse stemming from the baby’s exposure to illegal narcotics, the affidavit for her arrest said.
Davie Police said Tuesday that Amelia was in the custody of ChildNet, a contractor of the Florida Department of Children and Families.