A Florida woman, 29-year-old Tasshay Chelsea Mills, is facing felony neglect and abuse charges after allegedly forcing her one-year-old daughter out of her car at night in Hialeah. The incident was reportedly triggered by spilled shampoo in the vehicle. Mills is accused of driving away, making a U-turn, and then forcibly taking the child from a woman who had moved the toddler to safety.
This is not Mills’ first encounter with the law. Court records reveal a history of legal issues, including theft, assault, and probation violations. Following the recent incident, which occurred near NW 37th Avenue and NW 54th Street at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 5, Mills was ordered to stay away from her child after posting a $7,500 bond in Miami-Dade County.
The details of the case began to unfold the day after the incident when a missing person alert was issued for the child, Mills, and a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The alert was later canceled when the toddler was found safe, but Mills was subsequently arrested.
According to the Hialeah Police Department, another woman in the car at the time of the incident claimed that spilled shampoo in the back seat triggered Mills’ aggressive reaction. Mills is alleged to have struck her one-year-old and pushed the child out of the car onto the asphalt, prompting immediate action from nearby witnesses.
Local news station WPLG aired footage from a Ring camera and interviewed a witness, also a mother, who had rescued the child. The witness and her boyfriend were in a car behind Mills when they saw the toddler being pushed into the road. The child was reportedly bleeding from her head.
Mills is said to have driven away erratically before making a U-turn back to where her child was being helped. The video footage shows Mills taking the child from the witness. The witness can be heard saying, “Okay, I’m not giving you this baby,” just before Mills grabbed the child and walked away.
After her arrest by the Miramar Police Department, Mills reportedly claimed that she did not push the child out of the car but removed her to clean the seat. Mills is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. on Oct. 10.