Posted on 06/08/2005 2:13:01 PM PDT by tuffydoodle
Baby Found In Hot SUV, Mom Arrested Wal-Mart Employee Pulls Child From Vehicle
CEDAR HILL, Texas -- Cedar Hill police are investigating a case of a child being left inside a hot car in the parking lot of a Cedar Hill Wal-Mart.
Lt. Steve Lafferty said a female store employee removed the 2-year-old child from a sport utility vehicle at 621 Uptown Blvd., just south of FM 1382.
"She went inside [the store] … She went back out and checked on the vehicle. The child was still in the car so she removed the child from the car, took [the child] inside and contacted police," he said.
Lafferty also said the SUV reached an internal temperature of more than 100 degrees before the woman rescued the child. The infant may have been in the car for as long as 30 minutes, police said.
Police arrested the child's mother, Tomisha Gist-Terry, who had been driving the SUV.
"The driver's been arrested, at this time, for outstanding warrants. The investigation is still pending," Lafferty said.
Gist-Terry will also likely face charges relating to child-endangerment, police said.
The woman was with two other adults, all of whom went inside the Wal-Mart to shop, the lieutenant said.
The child is in state custody and being treated at Children's Medical Center Dallas, but her condition is not known.
NBC 5 reported that when found, the child was covered with sweat.
Similar Rescue Last week, firefighters had to rescue an infant in a similar situation by breaking a car window.
For more than a half-hour, the child was locked in his car seat inside a car parked near Medical City.
The baby was not seriously hurt.
Dire Consequences In 2003, 10 children died in hot cars across Texas, and state officials are trying to make sure that never happens again.
Last week, they launched the new "Look Before You Leave" campaign to remind parents and others that it is never acceptable to leave children locked inside a vehicle -- regardless of the weather.
The stupidity of that comment is honest to God mind blowing.
how many stories to we have to hear before these stupid people GET IT....
I agree that that's a lame arguement. But some people do go a little overboard butting into others business.
I'm the father of a 23 month old boy and a couple of months ago I needed to run inside a BP Mart (gas station) to get change for a buck. My car was less than 7 feet away, back seat window cracked..I was out of the car for about 45 seconds, tops and my eyes were peeled on my son the whole time.
All the time I was afraid of some doogooder staring daggers at me.
SUV locks baby inside, has mother arrested
"In a Hugo..."
Maybe so -- but I suspect that this little kid is still alive because the Wal-Mart lady butted in this time.
Think so?
If convicted of injury to a child, she could sentenced to not more than 20 years nor less than 2 years plus up to $10,000 in fines for a class B felony. Class A is 5 to 99 years.
ol' hoghead
I challenge anyone to try that. She will have a huge wave of support from non-baby-killers.
Thank God for the Wal Mart employee who rescued the child. And thank goodness it wan't to late
You won't hear me disagree with you. If I saw a little one in a locked car and the windows were up in the middle of the summer I would go and grab a security guard or hell I would probably just break the window in myself with my tire iron or something.
Yep, I agree! Legislators don't make anone mindlessly stupid!
Read post 5, the one to which the FReeper was replying. It was a smart-aleck comment.
Where there's a will there's a lawyer.
your "Sarc" button wasn't on!LOL
"If the government didn't require us to put kids in the back seat, parents wouldn't forget they had children. If anyone should spend 20 years in jail, it's the legislators."
If you can't remember that you have kids, your parental rights should be terminated, and you should be sterilized.
I used to run into a local 7-eleven to get a slurpy for my older son and I, and I would leave my baby twins in their carseat, especially if they were asleep. I didn't have to worry about the heat, and I always parked where I could see them. We also live in a very safe neighborhood.
My kids are 8 & 10 now, and nothing happened to them.
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