Child left in car on side of I-94 taken home by Good Samaritans

DETROIT (WJBK) - A Good Samaritan saw a little girl alone in her father's broken down car on the side of the road as he walked to get help. The driver drove the girl home, returning her safely to her mother.

Just 6 years old, Ja'niah White woke up in her dad's car Sunday, cold and alone, as it was parked on the side of I-94 in Detroit. With the hood propped up, she assumed the car had broken down and that her dad left to go get help.

Andrew, Jahlil and Tyler were driving down I-94 near I-96 on the city's west side when they saw little Ja'niah.

"The girl is literally in the street, I had to swerve," Jahlil said.

The first grader was trying to flag down help.

"She said her initial reaction before she got out of the car, she actually stopped and prayed," said the girl's mother, Tarisha Kegler.

So Andrew said they pulled over to the side of the road.

"She was running up to us as we were getting out of the car and she just said that she needed help," he said.

The guys admit at first they were apprehensive to stop.

"You never know, like that little girl could be flagging us down and the next thing you know people ambush us," Jahil said.

Andrew said he's happy that they were the ones who found her.

"I believe God was looking over her because there was another way we were supposed to go to the destination that we had," he said.

The little girl knew her mom's cell phone number and her address. The Good Samaritans immediately called mom and drove Ja'niah home.

"There's a lot of kidnappings, rapists - every worse case scenario went through my mind," Tarisha said.

She calls these guys her angels.

"When they initially met me when they brought her home, the first thing he said was ma'am we are God fearing men, so I knew it wasn't nothing but God that brought her home safe," she said.

When Ja'niah's dad returned to the car, his little girl was gone so he drove to this gas station and called police. Investigators later determined she was safe with her mother.

Police aren't saying whether or not the father will face charges.