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Baby Left In Hot Car; Mom Charged
Baby Unresponsive While Mom Goes Grocery Shopping
POSTED: 4:15 pm MST May 31,
2008
UPDATED: 11:57 am MST June 1,
2008
PHOENIX -- A mom who went grocery shopping while leaving her 7-week-old baby in a hot car with windows rolled up for 45 minutes was booked Saturday night on one count of child abuse, Phoenix police said.Mandy Nichols, 25, left the baby in the car long enough to shop for an entire cart of groceries, purchase them, and have them bagged up, said Andy Hill of the Phoenix Police Department"The mother didn't seem concerned at all," said Erik Estrada, a witness. "She wasn't crying."When rescuers first arrived, the baby, Serenity Soto, was unresponsive.
The temperature in the parking lot was 106 degrees, according to a CBS 5 hand-held thermometer. When outside readings range between 80 to 100 degrees, temperatures inside vehicles can soar to between 131 to 172 degrees, according to a Centers For Disease Control and Prevention study.Paramedics at the scene near 43rd Avenue and Thomas Road said they managed to get the baby breathing again before rushing her to the hospital where she was in stable condition."She was real red, sweating really bad, kept moving her hands, couldn't breathe no more," Estrada said.Shoppers inside the Food City in Maryvale had their afternoon rocked when someone spotted the baby girl left in a white Mirage vehicle strapped in her car seat."Went to see, and the baby is crying, hot, sweating," said Larry Coleman, a Food City security guard. "Went in the store and got the manager."Witnesses said there was power struggle between the store manager and shoppers who were trying to break open the window. They said the store manager wanted to wait for the fire department because they were so close.With an anxious crowd gathering around the vehicle and unable to break in, the fire department arrived and pulled the baby to safety."The fire department busted the window, got her in the store, took her clothes off, put a cold rag on her, and made sure she was okay" Coleman said."Ironically, when fire rescuers brought the child into the Food City, the mother was in the checkout line and saw the commotion and then realized after a short time that was her child," Hill said.Police said they are still trying to determine why Nichols left her daughter in the car.Nichols has two other children, ages 2 and 7, officers said. Sources told CBS 5 News she has been in trouble before for child neglect."She should get charged," said Coleman. "That's total neglect. It is hot out here. It is double hot in the car."The baby was turned over to Child Protective Services.ELSEWHERE ON KPHO.COM: Authorities took two young children into protective custody and seized nearly 40 animals from a filthy Tucson home, police said. CLICK HERE for details. MORE SLIDESHOWS: From the bizarre to the tragic to late-breaking news, visit the KPHO.com slideshow section and click away! CLICK HERE for images.
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