Couple charged with child neglect after 2-year-old was left home alone

A Hilton Head Island man left his 2-year-old daughter at home alone Wednesday with a pot of boiling water on the stove and a candle burning in the apartment while he ran an errand and ate breakfast, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

Jose Reynoso-Geurrero, 24, of Woodhaven Apartments was pulled over by a deputy around 8 a.m. for not wearing a seat belt, driving without a license and driving without insurance, said Cpl. Robin McIntosh, sheriff spokeswoman.

While under arrest, Reynoso-Geurrero told the deputy he needed to return to his apartment because his daughter was there alone, McIntosh said.

Reynoso-Geurrero said he had left the child to take his wife, Susana Sanchez, 24, to work at an island fast-food restaurant and to eat breakfast, McIntosh said. Reynoso-Geurrero and Sanchez were arrested on abuse charges.

It is unknown how long the child was alone.

McIntosh said the girl was asleep when her parents left, but woke up and walked to the home of a neighbor who had previously baby-sat for her.

When deputies arrived, they found a pot of boiling water on the stove and a candle burning in the apartment, McIntosh said.

The girl was unharmed and is being cared for by the baby-sitter, McIntosh said. The Department of Social Services is investigating, McIntosh said.

Reynoso-Geurrero and Sanchez were charged with abuse or neglect of a child, the Beaufort County jail log said.

Both Reynoso-Geurrero and Sanchez are being held without bond in the Beaufort County Detention Center and have also been placed on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold, the jail log said. ICE holds are for individuals whose legal residency status is under investigation by immigration officials.