A Facebook Live video has gone viral after a Tennessee man found a lost two-year-old child in the middle of the night.
WPED Memphis reports the incident happened early Sunday (Nov. 6) when Soloman Jones was talking with a friend when they saw the child walking along without a jacket. “You knew she was scared because she was just walking and crying, so when we were holding her, she was holding on to us tight,” he said. Jones said he and his friend tried to find the parents, but after the toddler was unable to point out her home, they called the police.
The entire ordeal was filmed via Facebook Live, where Jones slammed the parents and promised to care for the child until the police arrived. Jones has a daughter himself and says he was “in his feelings” about the situation. “Luckily God left us out here,” he’s heard saying in the video. “It’s three o’clock in the morning and here come a two-year-old child walking up the street crying. I ain’t no snitch but yeah, I called the police because I don’t know who this child belong to, you know what I’m saying? ‘…And yeah her parents can’t get her back until they talk to the police. But we got her though, we gonna make sure she get home. And keep something for her stomach.”
He also gave props to the police officers for stepping in and finding the parents, who lived nearby.
Jones told reporters he received a high amount of criticism for bashing the parents but doesn’t regret his decision for stepping in to prevent a far worse fate for the missing toddler. As for those who call him a hero, he’s iffy on the title.”I don’t think I’m a hero,” he said. “I think I’m just somebody doing my part for the community, doing my part to keep people safe. I’d want somebody to do that for my little girl.”
Jones says the parents have thanked him and he feels differently about them. Police haven’t announced any charges for the parents and it isn’t known how the child ended up outside.