Shanesha Taylor: Mom Who Left Kids In Hot Car During Job Interview Accused Of Failing To Put Donated Cash In Fund

Shanesha Taylor made headlines early this year when the mother left her kids in a hot car during a job interview. Now Taylor is facing new allegations that she failed to deposit money donated to create a college fund for the children.

Taylor attracted sympathy across the nation after her tearful mugshot was released. Taylor claimed that she was trying to get a job to help her family, and got a pass from many despite the lapse in judgment in leaving her kids in a car that reached more than 100 degrees.

A fundraiser was started online to help her kids attend college, one that eventually raised more than $110,000.

Prosecutors also gave Shanesha Taylor a second chance, allowing her to keep her kids and avoid jail in exchange for setting up a $60,000 trust for her children.

But now it appears that Taylor has failed to do that. On Thursday, she missed the deadline to put money into the trusts, even after a judge lowered the amount to $40,000.

Taylor said there is still more than $60,000 of the money remaining, but that she did not want to put it into a college trust because the children would not get it if they chose not to attend college.

The case generated controversy even at the time. Defense attorney Benjamin Taylor claimed that Shashena believed she had nowhere else to bring her kids during the job interview.

“This is a single mom who was trying to get a job, and unfortunately she was arrested for trying to get a job… She wasn’t going to a liquor store. She wasn’t going to a party. She was going to a job interview… This is a case where you have a single mom who’s doing her best, who’s trying to survive out here in the world.”

But Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery pointed out that Shashena Taylor actually had another job at the time.

With her plea deal now voided, Shashena Taylor will face a December 10 trial on two felony child abuse charges.