Mom on J-1 visa who abandoned baby in North Myrtle Beach won’t face jail time. Here’s why
Charges have been dismissed against a mother who abandoned her newborn baby in North Myrtle Beach, where she worked as part of the J-1 visa program.
Britney Wheatle, who was 21 at the time, was arrested after leaving her baby in some bushes in a neighborhood in August 2023. The infant survived after being found by a resident walking in the area.
The charges against Wheatle were dropped March 18, 2025, after she completed a parenting plan through the South Carolina Department of Social Services, said 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson.
Richardson said her visa was revoked and she was sent back to her home country of Jamaica. The baby is no longer with Wheatle, Richardson said.
Wheatle was in the U.S. on a J-1 visa. The visa program allows people from other countries to come to the U.S. for a work- and study-based exchange program.
More than 3,000 international students come to the Grand Strand area each summer, often beginning in May, to work under the U.S. Department of State’s program.
It is believed Wheatle gave birth to the baby within a day of her abandoning the child, police said.
The newborn, which was premature, had no clothes, no blanket and was lying in the dirt, police said. It appears the baby girl had been there for about an hour. There were no signs of abuse on the baby. However, the heat that day was in the 90s.
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
