Hartford mother missing, 4-year-old found wandering

Police say Nicks daughter was unharmed and in the custody of Connecticut Department of Children Families.

The Hartford woman accused of leaving her 4-year-old daughter alone on Tuesday told police she left to be paid for sex so she could pay her rent.

Shi’Day Nicks, 22, said she left out sandwiches and snacks for her little girl and put cartoons on TV before slipping out of her Hartford apartment for a sexual rendezvous as her daughter slept, according to court documents obtained by WFSB-TV.

On Tuesday, at 10:08 a.m., Hartford Police responded to a Collins Street home on reports that a 4-year-old girl had been found wandering alone. I hope she and her daughter are back together. I take full responsibility for the decisions I made that led me to be in this situation. She was previously listed as living on Orange Street in Springfield, Massachusetts and 23rd Street in Meridian, Mississippi, police said.

About three hours after she left, police said the oblivious mom returned home and was greeted by police who informed her that her child was in their care.

She also was eventually found and brought in for questioning.

Deputy Chief Brian Foley says records show that 22-year-old Shi’day Nicks lives in the apartment and police believe she is the girl’s mother or a close relative.

The child is now in the care of the Department of Children and Families. “Certainly the habits were outside the bounds of good parenting, again, lifestyle played a factor”.

“Right now, as a grandfather and a father, it’s very disturbing”, Anthony Nicks, Shi’Day’s father, said outside of court.

Shi’day Nicks was charged with reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor after a passerby spotted Shafayla Nicks alone on Collins Street Tuesday.

“I just don’t know what happened”, Anthony Nicks told the Hartford Courant.