21-year-old woman charged with leaving her baby in North Myrtle Beach bushes

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – A newborn baby girl is at the hospital after police say her mother, a J-1 Visa student from Jamaica, left the baby in some bushes.

Britney Wheatle, 21, is charged with person who had charge/custody of child places child at risk/harm or abandons.

The North Myrtle Beach Police Department was called out around 6:18 p.m. Sunday to Live Oak Court.

At the scene, they found a woman named Robyn Cain holding the baby.

Cain thought she heard an animal in the bushes but then realized it was a newborn baby girl lying in the dirt with no clothes or blanket, according to Ofc. Patrick Wilkinson.

“She was turned on her side,” Cain described when she first found the child. “I don’t know if the mother put her on her back and she turned on her side. She was under the bush, not totally emersed under the bush. She was clean, but she was crying. She had a full head of black hair.”

Cain then rushed to Etta Allen’s home, who quickly called 911.

“I was shocked,” Allen said. “I could see her through my glass door, holding that baby in a shirt. I was just shocked.”

While talking with officers, Cain mentioned seeing a woman in the neighborhood who looked lost and needed to get to work.

Cain ended up taking the woman to work at Walmart. After dropping off the woman, she went on her daily walk, and that’s when she discovered the baby.

Wilkinson praised Cain for all the actions she took that day that saved the baby’s life.

“God was on our side,” Wilkinson said. “That day was on that baby’s side. And like I said, the real hero here is Miss Cain. Not only drove the suspect to Walmart unknowingly, being that good person as she is, but then located that baby and then called. 911 immediately.”

After Cain told police about the woman, officers drove to the Walmart and confronted Wheatle, who, according to Wilkinson, confessed to giving birth and leaving the child.

Wilkinson said the baby is in the NICU but is expected to survive. He said the baby is within a day old, and it is unclear how long the baby was in the bushes.

Wheatle is currently booked in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on a $10,000 bond.

The South Carolina Department of Social Services is also investigating the case.

DSS released the following statement Monday afternoon:

DSS is aware of the infant in question as it was placed into Emergency Custody by law enforcement. The agency is working alongside local law enforcement in the investigation of this case, and there are no further updates that can be shared.”

At a Monday news conference, Wilkinson reminded people about Daniel’s Law, which is a law that allows new parents to safely drop off a newborn at certain sites, such as a fire station or hospital, without fear of getting in trouble.