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Babies Left Inside Sweltering Car While Mom Shopped
Baby on board via Shutterstock.com
An 18-year-old mother is facing charges after she left her 2-week-old daughter and 1-year-old son locked in a car while she went shopping in a Cudahy shopping center yesterday.The mother Arely Amaya had left her babies inside the car for about 20-25 minutes around noon, sheriff's deputies told City News Service. Temperatures outside the car were soaring to 92, but deputies estimate that even though a rear window was cracked, the temperature inside the car was probably closer to 102-107 degrees.
Fortunately, some Good Samaritans noticed the babies and notified sheriff's deputies, who managed to rescue them just in time. The deputies unlocked the car through the rear window and put the children in an air-conditioned car until paramedics arrived.
The children were taken to Saint Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, but they appear to be okay. Their mother Amaya was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment when she returned to the car. She was being held in lieu of $105,000 bail.
Dozens of children die of hyperthermia every year when they are left inside cars during warm weather, according to the Los Angeles Times. No amount of time is safe in a warm car even during milder temperatures. Authorities note that in one recent case, a child died while the temperature outside was only 81 degrees.
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