A Florida woman is facing charges for allegedly leaving her 2-year-old child in a locked vehicle while she and her younger siblings watched the “Smurfs” movie, police said.
The Lake City Police Department said officers responded at around 5:49 p.m. Saturday to the Regal Cinema 90 on U.S. Highway 90 in Lake City after receiving reports of a toddler locked inside a vehicle. They arrived to find a “visibly distressed” 2-year-old girl inside a hot car.
Officers “immediately” broke a window to gain entry and remove the child, who “appeared flushed, sweating, and crying,” police said. The girl was transported to Lake City Medical Center for treatment.
Investigators learned the child’s mother, 18-year-old Tipora Lashanti Merriex Jackson, had taken her daughter and her younger siblings to see “Smurfs,” but after “multiple disruptions” in the theater, she took the toddler out to the car and left her there, returning to the movie.
According to police, the temperature outside at the time was 94 degrees, with a heat index of 107 degrees.
Merriex Jackson was arrested and booked into the Columbia County Detention Center on a charge of neglect of a child without great bodily harm.
“Our officers acted swiftly to ensure the safety of this young child,” Chief of Police Gerald Butler said in a statement. “Leaving a child unattended in a vehicle under these conditions is unacceptable. We are thankful the child is safe and urge all parents to prioritize the well-being of their children at all times.”
