MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 24: A customer leaves a Walmart store on January 24, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Walmart announced that it is raising its minimum wage for store employees in early March, store employees will make between $14 and $19 an hour. They currently earn between $12 and $18 an hour. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A Mississippi mom was arrested after bringing her toddler to a Walmart store dressed only in a diaper.
The incident reportedly occurred on January 17. On that day, there was a high of 38 degrees and a low of 10 degrees, per Accuweather, in Byram, Miss. That’s reportedly the name of the area where Kambria Gabrielle Darby took her son to the retail store.
WJTV reports that the police reacted to the incident at around 10:30 a.m. The outlet reports that the temperature outside was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit that day.
A viral video shows the minor wearing a black jacket inside a shopping cart. However, the person filming, reportedly a Walmart employee, alleged the mom had just given him the coat. Instead, the employee clarified that the child had only “a pamper on” initially.
A voice off-camera, believed to be Kambria, seemingly confirmed that the child only had on a paper under the jacket. Regardless, the mom continued grabbing groceries from the freezer section and tossing them in the cart near the child.
She confronted a man who approached her about the situation. He asked her to “get out” of his face, then called the mom “crazy” for having the child in Walmart and outside without any warm apparel. Kambria began to walk away, then started twerking toward the man and woman recording. Another onlooker follows her into the next aisle. He warned that he was calling the police.
According to the New York Post, by the time she had left the store, Darby was met by police officers. The cops arrested her over the incident. The Walmart employee reportedly began recording after seeing the mom put the semi-nude boy in the cart.
Cops were informed that another shopper at the Walmart dressed the shivering minor. EMS crews reportedly checked the child before Child Protective Services removed him from the scene. CPS later released the boy to a relative.
Police detained Darby at the Hinds County Detention Center and charged her with child neglect. She was later released on bond conditions, per WJTV.
After video footage of the incident went viral on social media, Darby responded to allegations of being an unfit mother.
In a post shared to her Facebook, per Daily Mail, she claimed she had pictures of every meal she had cooked for her children as proof of her good parenting skills. The mom reportedly has three children.
Editor’s Note: The Shade Room has not independently confirmed this account belongs to Kambria.
Darby also drew comparisons between her situation and Jesus, religion, claiming that she was being treated unfairly like Him.
“This deformation (sic) of character is hurting my heart,” she allegedly wrote. “They did Jesus the same way, he felt sick to his stomach as well; he didn’t want to go through it.”
“I haven’t seen my kids since they were taken away from me by CPS. Last night was my first night eating a few crackers since my kids have been gone.”
Darby reportedly remained hopeful that she’d one day be reunited with her kids.
Additionally, she mentioned what she’d done for them to dispel further claims of her being a bad parent.
“My kids have been to Disney World, meet Mickey [Mouse] in his office VIP style. They meet Blippi in person VIP style,’ she continued. “They’ve been on planes, (was planning to go to the Dominican Republic this year, but it’s in God’s hands now).”
However, it’s unclear if the mom addressed why she took her child to Walmart semi-dressed.
“My village ain’t gone play about my 3 & neither do I! Again I can’t say everything it’s a legal matter but my kids are not a charity case, they are not neglected, and I am not mentally ill! Stop it with the defamation! (sic)” she reportedly wrote.
