An Alabama woman is under arrest and facing Department of Children and Families scrutiny after she allegedly left her 17-month-old child in a car that was running.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, deputies came to the 2300 block of West Sample Road in Deerfield Beach after witnesses called 911 to report the toddler alone. The toddler was also said to not be secured in a car seat.
BSO deputies said the car was registering as hot as 100 degrees on the dashboard while the child was alone in the car, but couldn’t say whether or not the car, a 2004 Oldsmobile Alero, was locked. Mike Jachles of Broward Sheriff’s Fire Rescue said even with air conditioning, things could have gone much worse.
“A lot of times, babies can overheat very quickly…they don’t have the system that adults have to cool them. They can become overheated. We’ve seen cases where children have died in hot cars in a short amount of time,” Jachles said.
The BSO said that the mother, Ereka Shardae Thomas, 20, was away from the car for between 10 and 20 minutes. The mother told authorities she went inside a commercial building to use the bathroom.
The mother now faces a felony charge of child neglect without great bodily harm. The child is now in DCF care.
Jail records showed Thomas was being held without bond early Thursday on a probation violation.
