HIALEAH, Fla. – Detectives raided a Hialeah motel after accusing a family of selling drugs in front of two girls who were regularly around men with criminal records.
Jessica Nieves, their mother, and relatives were staying in two separate rooms at the Star Motel, at 1651 West Okeechobee Road, according to police.
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The case involves an investigation with undercover officers who saw the two girls present when they bought crystal meth in the motel on Feb. 20, March 7, and on Monday, according to police.
On Thursday afternoon, detectives were back to the motel with a warrant and reported rescuing the 4-year-old girl and finding more crystal meth, heroin, marijuana, and pills, according to a police report.
Nieves, 39; her boyfriend Roy Duran; her father, William Nieves, and the girls, aged 4 and 10, were staying in the same room, according to a police report.
The girls’ grandmother Melinda Nieves, who is still married to their grandfather, was staying in another room at the same motel with her boyfriend Jose Cortez, according to the report.
The 4-year-old girl told a police officer that Duran, 38, feeds her and her sister, takes care of school rides; and their grandparents, and Cortez, 53, also watch over them when their mother can’t, according to a report.
Records show Duran was out on a felony bond for possession of a controlled substance. Cortez, a convicted felon known as “King Chachi” who has been in and out of prison for decades, was last released from prison in 2022.
Police officers reported picking up the girl’s 10-year-old sister from an elementary school in Hialeah and taking her to the police department’s headquarters where they questioned and arrested the five suspects.
Police officers took the five to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. The Nieves, Duran, and Cortez faced two counts of child neglect with no great bodily harm.
Cortez also faced charges of possession of a firearm, weapon, or ammunition by a convicted felon; and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use.
William Nieves also faced charges of trafficking fentanyl and three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.
Jessica Nieves also faced three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, possession of heroin with intent to sell, and possession of marijuana with intent to sell.