This is 39-year-old Shinay Davis. On March 14th, [music] 2024, Riviera Beach police responded to a call from a local daycare in reference to a discovery inside a toddler's lunchbox. Officers learned the daycare staff found the weapon while attempting to prepare lunch for the child and immediately called police after realizing the firearm was real. Watch what Ms. Davis tells police when she arrives to the daycare and let us know what you think in the comments below. Are you the mom? How you doing? Are you the mom? Yes, ma'am. All right. Uh stand right here for me so I can talk to them and then I'll come and talk to you. How you doing? Hello, how are you? >> I'm good. All right. Thank you so much for coming. First and foremost, where's what? She she got she took she had she had but let me tell you where it >> Now, where is it now? She has it she put it in the Ma'am. Ma'am, where is the weapon? It's in my car. Okay. Let me let me get the weapon. Okay. She's getting ready to take me to Are you getting ready to take me to I need the weapon. Ma'am, I'm not trying to get your car so I'm getting ready to call the Hello. Ma'am, she's getting ready to Are you She said Ma'am. She's getting it out of the glove She's getting it out of Yes, ma'am. She's getting it >> Can you Hold on. Stand all the way back. Hello. Hold on. Don't walk away. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay, hold on. I'll talk to you in a minute. Okay. It's like you see like they're here the police are here right now. They're aggressively I'm not aggressive. >> No, I'm sorry, ma'am. You're not but basically what I'm saying is she has her gloves on. She's taking a picture of my gun. She's ready to press charges on me and take me to jail basically. And this is what I'm talking about. Okay, so what happened? Can you talk to me? Okay, you hold on 1 second. This is the owner. Hold on 1 second. Hold on, Ms. Jackson. Please don't hang up cuz I have to I have to explain to the officer. In the In the In the mean This her phone call? Yeah. Look, these your keys? Yeah, you want to stop right now. Okay, so >> so hold on. What happened? Okay, a grave mistake. Raise your Raise your right hand. My right hand. All right. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. All right. Okay, so at my son's go here I take him to school every morning. >> How old is your son? Okay, so basically she Ms. Granger Uh Can you Can you get off the phone real quick? Ms. Jackson, hold on. Okay, it's like four police officers here. Oh my god. Okay. So I take my son here by 9:00 they close the door and they lock the door. I don't carry purses. All right, I keep my gun in my glove compartment locked in my glove compartment. I just got work done on my tire. They breaking cars out where I live. So the only reason why I took the gun out of my car is cuz I didn't want the car my car to get broken into and they get access to the gun or whatever. So this morning I took him I put the gun in his lunchbox to bring it outside instead of carrying it there. I don't Like I said, I don't carry purses. So instead of me Huh? So instead of So instead I'm still talking to her. I already got I already got a zero. Yeah, and she said she don't want to press charges on me. Hold on. Ma'am, it was a grave mistake. I'm I'm pretty sure that's what it is. It doesn't seem like anything malicious. >> It was a grave mistake. I swear I'm so sick in my stomach. I'm so sick in my stomach. That's I literally I don't My son has never seen the gun before. He's never even seen it before. This is why I put it in his book bag this morning and put this book bag under my arm cuz I don't carry purses. I don't. That's why I don't even carry the gun on me. You might want to start carrying a purse now. >> Right. All right, let me call you Let me call you right back. All right, so you packing a lunch, you put the you put the weapon inside of the lunchbox and then what happened? >> And I closed it and I put it in my passenger side. Okay, the whole point was to take it out before and put it in my glove before I bring him before I get him out of school. Okay, 9:00 Ms. locks that door. And you already know if you have kids once they lock the door you can't get in for the rest of the day to get your child in school. What's What's your address? So the lunch What happened? The lunch time is at 11:00. Mhm. So It's between 11:00 11:30 something like that. So I get a call between 11:00 11:30 and they're like we need you to come up Can I at least make a phone call? What am I being charged with? Neglect. I'll I'll let you know in a minute but Go ahead. Um Got something for I'm going to talk to her real quick. I'll be back. Why y'all out here doing like this? And the crazy part about it is I could have just got my son and went home. And now y'all arresting me. Y'all can't NTA? Ma'am, sir. I'm not investigating officer. Um that decision was already made by our supervisor so Who was the supervisor? Like y'all not even giving me the opportunity to make a phone call or anything. >> make a phone call. Just this is not the time for the phone call. I'm at my son's school. My son is right in there. Y'all taking me to >> see you. He can't see you. And I've cooperated I said I had to wait for y'all. >> Okay. Before you go in, let me just I don't have nothing on my hair. Okay. All right, go ahead and have a seat. Go ahead and have a seat. You got to put your legs in so that I I need to talk to somebody, ma'am. Can I talk to the officer, please? >> Ma'am, the decision already had made. The only thing you could do right now is when we go to the station, if there's somebody else you want to speak to, we'll get that supervisor or whoever else that you want to talk to but right now you are under arrest. Okay? What are my charges? We're going to let you know in a few. Is the Are you okay with the godmother picking up your son? Yes. I'm a good mom to my child and I'm about to lose everything because y'all >> I'm not doubting that you're not a good mom. >> Y'all don't have to do our job. I know but this is crazy right here. You put it in the book bag just for safekeeping? Yep. And forgot to take it out? Yep. I want to change I want to change my chamber. It don't work. Officers go to speak with the staff of the daycare that discovered the weapon in the lunchbox. Hello. All right, so who found the weapon? Um my teacher My teacher I was standing and talking to the teacher as she as she discovered it so it was a kind of like both of us. All right, so where were you guys normally when when you when you found when you located the gun? Um well, all the kids were at the table all getting ready for lunch. All right, so can you raise your right hand for me? Do you swear that the statement you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. First, can you tell me what happened? Um so um all the children were sitting at the yellow table um I sit at the yellow table. Um I did like a a circle round um I opened up one child He was the last one that I got to. So I got to his lunchbox. I opened it up and when I went to reach for his sandwich um after I picked up the sandwich I saw um the gun at the bottom of his lunchbox. And then what did you do? Uh freaked out um and went to the office and told them like, "Hey, you know, there's a gun in here." I was like, "There's a g u n g u n g u n." And um Ms. Shawn and um ended up entering the classroom and when she entered she removed the lunchbox from the class. Okay, anything else that you want to add to the statement? Um no. Okay. Can you tell me what happened? Um I was standing uh in the doorway talking to uh the teachers down there. Uh my teacher uh Shaquisha was opening the kids' lunchbox so when she got to that particular child she unzipped she unzipped the lunchbox and she went to reach and SHE SAID, "OH!" AND I WAS LIKE, "WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?" SHE WAS LIKE, "COME So she said what it was so I I then went down, opened the lunchbox, I saw What color was the lunchbox? Uh lunchbox is like a black, maybe navy blue. It's like a dark color with like maybe like like white lines in it or something like that. Can you go in her car and get that lunchbox out of the car? It's in the front seat. It's in the car. Her car? Yeah. Okay, so Okay, so you got the lunchbox. So I got the So I got the lunchbox. I I look at them I felt the heaviness of the lunchbox, so I know it was definitely a real weapon, but I wanted to you know make sure so I was really gloves I put [clears throat] gloves on took it out to make sure that it was um a real weapon. That's when I realized oh yeah, it's definitely real, definitely loaded. I put it back stuck it back in the lunchbox and then I immediately called her and told she needs to get to the school. Okay, and then what did she say? I didn't tell her why I was calling her. I just said I need to see you at the school and it's urgent. She kept asking me why why why. I said I just need you here type thing. We hung up. She said I'm on the way. I'll say maybe 3 to 5 minutes later she called back and that's when she realized why we were calling her and she was like I'm so so sorry. >> area that you guys were in when we this guy here? He sits right here, right? Right here? He sits The child sits right here. So it was Hi, how you doing? Good. This is Officer Hunter with the Riviera Beach Police Department. So what I I know that you're the owner and the director of the facility. Um So would you like to prosecute as well? No, I don't cuz she got that baby and the baby needs somebody. He needs his mama. I I I don't want to do that. I just thank the good Lord nobody got hurt. None of the other kids got gun and I'm going to have to let her put him somewhere else. So I'm hoping that will never happen with us again and I I just Okay. I have to I have to Yeah, I I understand but I it's it's other you know policies in reference to because this is a school that we have to go by so I still have to you know obviously speak with supervisors to make sure that I'm I'm following all rights and protocols because even though you might not want to prosecute state says that I might have to so I have to go by what they say. So I just want to let you know that I will give them a copy of the case number and you guys can contact uh or someone to come and pick up the kid, okay? Cuz I'm not going to make her let her make a phone call just yet. Okay? Oh, good, sir. I I I told her that I I was not going to press charges but I didn't know what you all was going to Yeah, yeah, we yeah, we yeah, we have it's a whole another it's a school so It's it's dangerous cuz I mean my little kid Okay. Okay. All right. All right. >> everything you doing. Anytime. Bye. Thank you so much. >> Let's examine the constitutional framework. The first legal issue centers on Florida statute section 790.174, the safe storage of firearms law. That statute provides that any person who stores a firearm in a location where they know or reasonably should know a minor could gain access is guilty of a second degree misdemeanor at minimum. Where a minor actually possesses or carries the firearm in a public space, the charge escalates and a licensed daycare is a public space. Davis placed a loaded handgun inside her son's lunchbox, which was then carried into a child care facility. That single act satisfies the actus reus of section 790.174 entirely, regardless of intent, regardless of remorse. The second charge, felony child neglect, is governed by Florida statute section 827.03. That statute defines neglect as a caregiver's failure to provide supervision necessary to maintain a child's physical and mental health when that failure is likely to cause or does cause harm to the child's welfare. The word likely is operative. Florida courts do not require that harm actually occur, only that the risk was substantial and foreseeable. A loaded firearm in a lunchbox accessible to a toddler and multiple other young children at a daycare table clears that bar. A third potential charge exists under Florida statute section 790.115, which prohibits the possession of a firearm on school property. Licensed daycare and early childhood education facilities fall within the statutory definition of school under Florida law. The presence of a loaded firearm inside that facility may constitute an independent felony beyond the two charges already filed. On the Fourth Amendment, there is no issue here. Davis voluntarily directed officers to her vehicle and to the weapon. Under Schneckloth versus Bustamonte, decided by the Supreme Court in 1973, voluntary consent to a search is a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. No warrant was needed. No unlawful search occurred. Davis's cooperation eliminated any Fourth Amendment exposure for the state. On the Fifth Amendment, Davis made multiple unsolicited statements before any Miranda advisement was given. Under Berkemer versus McCarty, Miranda warnings are not required during non-custodial investigative encounters. Davis was not yet under formal arrest when she explained her morning routine, her storage practices, and how the gun ended up in the lunchbox. Those statements are admissible. However, officers continued engaging Davis after the de facto custody began without a documented Miranda advisement. Any statements made during that post-arrest window are at risk of suppression under Miranda versus Arizona. This is a procedural vulnerability in the state's case. Not fatal, but exploitable by defense counsel at a suppression hearing. It is also worth addressing the daycare director's statement that she did not wish to press charges. That preference carries no legal weight here. Florida law empowers the state to prosecute independently. Victim or complainant reluctance does not bind the prosecutor's discretion. Officer Hunter correctly explained this distinction to the director on camera. A legally accurate and important clarification. Officer Hunter of the Riviera Beach Police Department receives a B+. The investigation was legally compliant and professionally executed. Sworn oaths were administered before witness statements sound evidentiary practice. The arrest decision was escalated to a supervisor rather than made unilaterally. Appropriate chain of command procedure for a sensitive case involving a minor. The weapon was retrieved through Davis's voluntary consent, preserving the state's Fourth Amendment position entirely. The deduction reflects one significant procedural gap. No Miranda advisement was documented before continued post-arrest engagement. In a case built heavily on Davis's own statements, that gap creates a suppression risk the prosecution will need to address. Shanay Davis receives a C. Davis cooperated fully, did not resist, and demonstrated genuine remorse. Her in-encounter conduct was legally unremarkable and favorable to her. However, under Florida statute section 790.174, intent is not the governing standard. The statute asks what a reasonable person should have known. A reasonable person placing a loaded firearm into a child's bag to be carried into a licensed daycare should know that a minor could access it. Davis described a specific plan to remove the gun before drop-off. That plan failed. Under the statute, failure is not a defense. It is the offense. The daycare staff receives an A-. Staff immediately escalated the discovery, isolated the weapon, cooperated with officers, and provided detailed sworn statements. The deduction is narrow. The director personally handled and inspected a loaded firearm before law enforcement arrived. Best practice in such situations requires securing the area, keeping children away, and deferring all weapon handling to trained officers. That deviation created unnecessary risk of accidental discharge. Intent was responsible. Execution was improvable. The core lesson here is not about bad intentions. Davis did not bring a gun to a daycare to harm her child. The lesson is that Florida's firearm storage laws are strict liability in effect. They do not require malice, only a foreseeable risk of access by a minor. Lawful gun owners who carry without a purse or holster, who improvise storage solutions in a hurry, take on legal exposure the moment a child is in proximity, whether that child is their own or someone else's. A locked vehicle with a secured glove compartment is legal storage. A toddler's lunchbox is not. That distinction under Florida law is a felony. Let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to analyze in the comments below. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to check out our second channel, Audit the Court, for more police interaction and courtroom content.