Three-year-old rescued from the middle of a busy Port St. Lucie intersection

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - This story starts at a home about a half-mile from the intersection of Village Green Drive and Walton Road in Port St. Lucie. But the big discovery takes place smack dab in the middle of the busy intersection.

Lots of people drive by every day, but someone unlikely showed up in the intersection Thursday. It was 3-year-old Jatayven Jean.

A few people noticed Jatayven and scooped him up. They took him to a fire station on the corner and told authorities what they’d just seen.

When police caught up with Jatayven’s mom, Janine Francois, 20, she explained she was tired from waking up at 4 a.m., so she was taking a nap.

“You should always keep your child in your eyesight,” said grandmother and Port St. Lucie resident Patricia Clark.

Jatayven’s dad, Kelly Jean, 27, says he left their apartment to hang out with a friend. He told police he turned on the TV to keep his son busy. At the police department, Jean admitted he’d been smoking marijuana.

“You have to have a license to go fishing, but anybody can have kids. It doesn’t make sense,” said Don Smith, a Port St. Lucie grandfather.

Both parents are charged with child neglect for parenting strategies that landed their son at a dangerous crossroads.

A guardian is now taking care of the child.