Mom left kids in sweltering hot car as she shopped at Dollar Tree, Georgia police say
A woman is accused of shopping at Dollar Tree while her two kids waited in a sweltering hot car, according to Georgia authorities. Now she’s facing multiple charges.
Eneilu Espinoza, 27, was arrested and charged with first-degree child cruelty after police say she left her children alone inside a hot car at the discount store on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell. She’s also charged with reckless conduct.
A passerby called 911 around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, after spotting the children — a 3-month-old and a 5-year-old — unattended in the store parking lot, according to a police news release. Officers arrived to find the kids still inside the car, which was “unlocked and turned off with the windows rolled up.”
Temperatures soared to 93 degrees that day, and police said the children showed early signs of heat-related illness.
Dangerous heat has scorched much of the Peach State with heat index values reaching 105 degrees and higher this week, according to the National Weather Service in Atlanta. A heat advisory remains in effect for parts of northeast, central, eastern and southeast Georgia as of Thursday, June 16, and is set to expire at 8 p.m.
Experts warn that rising temperatures are especially dangerous for young kids because “their bodies have not developed the ability to efficiently regulate” themselves when it gets too hot, according to the NWS website.
Espinoza was arrested after being summoned over the store’s loudspeaker and told officers she was only stopping inside “for a few minutes,” police said. She was taken to the Fulton County Jail, though it’s unclear if she was processed.
Her 3-month-old child was taken to a hospital for evaluation and the 5-year-old was released to his father, who wasn’t there at the time of the incident.
“Heat exhaustion and heat stroke can set in very quickly in these temperatures in an outside environment, let alone inside of a sealed car,” Roswell police warned. “If you cannot bring your children inside your destination, leave them at home in the care of a responsible guardian.”
Roswell is about 20 miles north of downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 9:22 AM with the headline "Mom left kids in sweltering hot car as she shopped at Dollar Tree, Georgia police say."