The Philadelphia woman accused of abandoning her quadriplegic son with cerebral palsy alone in the woods for over five days with nothing but a blanket and a Bible was taken into custody by police in Maryland. Montgomery County police said Parler was in the hospital, receiving treatment for an unknown reason, after being picked up at a Silver Spring address.
Nyia Parler, 41, is accused of leaving her 21-year-old son in a wooded area along Cobbs Creek Parkway near Catharine Street around 11 a.m. Monday before traveling to Montgomery County, Maryland to visit her boyfriend.
Parler's boyfriend told News4 Washington's Darcy Spencer he turned her in because he had to do the right thing.
Sheriff's deputies in Montgomery County took her into custody early Sunday morning, soon after an arrest warrant for the woman was issued, officials said.
She was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, neglect of a care-dependent person, unlawful restraint, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
The 21-year-old son was found lying in the leaves covered with a blanket next to a wheelchair and a Bible near Cobbs Creek Park in southwest Philadelphia on Friday night.
Police described the son as severely disabled and said he was unable to communicate how he got there. They said their investigation indicates he was left there Monday, when his mother boarded a bus for Montgomery County, Maryland.
The son was hospitalized with dehydration, malnutrition, a cut to his back and eye injuries, Lt. John Walker said.
"This kid's obviously a fighter,'' Walker said. "To see that kid laying there, it's heartbreaking to see that another human, especially a mother, could treat someone like that.''
Walker said the son was exposed to the elements and other dangers.
"A lot of things could have happened out there,'' he said. "Obviously, he's in the middle of a wooded area. You have wild animals there. This kid could not defend himself. He does not function at all.''
The son's school became concerned about him and called an aunt. When the mother was contacted in Maryland, police said, she lied about his whereabouts.
"She indicated to both family members and police officers that the child was with her down in Maryland,'' Walker said.
