Baby Found in West Nashville Encampment

A Metro Nashville council member said this week that officials removed a 6-month-old baby from a homeless encampment in West Nashville during last week’s extreme heat. Sheri Weiner, a member of the Metro Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee, disclosed the case during the committee’s July 7 meeting at the Historic Metro Courthouse. She said the infant is now in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. Weiner said the child’s parents were in custody, but she did not provide additional details during the meeting. ### How did the case become public? The July 7 Public Health and Safety Committee meeting is where Weiner described the rescue in public for the first time. Nashville’s council calendar lists that committee session on July 7, and local station WZTV reported the remarks the next day. Weiner said she went to the encampment with Metro Nashville Police Officer Ben Cantrell after learning a child was living there. “I held the child soaking wet for three hours,” Weiner told the committee, according to WZTV’s account of the meeting. (fox17.com) (nashville.gov) ### What did officials say they found at the encampment? Weiner said the encampment contained signs that a baby had been living there, including a stroller and a changing table. She said the child was found during a period of dangerous heat, with temperatures reaching about 105 degrees under a heat warning. (fox17.com) West Nashville was the location Weiner identified in her remarks, though she did not publicly specify the exact site. WZTV reported that the council member said the infant was rescued from a homeless encampment in that part of the city during last week’s heat. (fox17.com) ### Who has custody of the baby now? The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has custody of the infant, Weiner said. She told the committee the child was “thankfully in really good shape” after being removed from the encampment. Weiner said she would not identify the child or the family. (fox17.com) She credited Metro police officers, the Department of Children’s Services and others who responded for helping remove the child from the situation, adding: “The simple fact is we saved a life.” ### What did other Nashville officials say? Jacob Kupin, the chair of the Public Health and Safety Committee, also addressed the case during the July 7 meeting. WZTV reported that Kupin called it “an unfortunate situation” and said, “It is never appropriate to find kids in that situation.” (fox17.com) Sheri Weiner represents Metro Council District 22 and serves on the Public Health and Safety Committee, according to Nashville’s council website. That committee role helps explain why the case surfaced in that forum rather than through a separate formal announcement. ### What is still not public? The child’s name, the parents’ names and the specific criminal or protective-custody circumstances were not disclosed in the committee discussion reported by WZTV. (fox17.com) The station said Weiner stated only that the parents were in custody. (nashville.gov) The Metropolitan Council’s public records show the Public Health and Safety Committee met on July 7, 2026, at the Historic Metro Courthouse. Any further public discussion would most likely appear through Metro Council records, Nashville.gov meeting listings or statements from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, which now has custody of the infant, according to Weiner’s remarks. (nashville.gov) (fox17.com)