Arizona: Drunk Mom Leaves 1-Year-Old Inside Stroller In 100-Degree Heat, Arrested

[Update: The original version of this article reported that the incident took place in Texas. The incident however, took place in Arizona. The error is regretted]

Police officials from Arizona have arrested a 25-year-old woman after she allegedly left her 1-year-old toddler outside a home, in a stroller in 100-degree heat.

According to AZ Family, the woman, identified as Antoinette Nashio was drunk and passed out inside a Phoenix apartment even as her child sat helpless inside the stroller for almost an hour. After noticing the stroller outside the apartment, it was a group of neighbors who intervened and rescued the baby. According to witnesses, the baby was in a bad shape and had soiled himself inside the stroller. Following the incident, the toddler was handed over to the Arizona Department of Child Safety. Charges have also been filed against Antoinette, who is now in prison.

According to eyewitness Lissa Baker, she couldn’t help but cry at the sight of the little baby out in the open, all by himself, helpless.

“He was soaking wet, stuff stuck to his butt and everything. It was real sad. All I could do is just go up there and cry. The baby should have been asleep instead of in a stroller. You know what I mean? He was not strapped in and I was like, ‘Oh my God,” Baker said.

An earlier report by AZ Family had revealed that the baby did not have any diaper on and was found soaked in his own urine and was dirty when he was discovered by Baker. Lissa waited for a few minutes to see if any relatives of the baby would come to check on the baby. When that didn’t happen, she decided to knock on the door of the apartment where Nashio was in. However, after there was no response from inside, Lissa decided it was better to call the police. In the meantime, she took the help of another neighbor, got a diaper and cleaned the baby up. Another neighbor, Scott Dunn called 911 after Nashio did not answer the door.

When police officers arrived on the scene, they too were stuck and knocked on the door for more than 10 minutes. They did however, manage to get inside the home with the help of a friend. Inside, they found Antoinette Gail Little-Nashio, 25, passed out in her bed, visibly drunk. She underwent a sobriety test too in which she blew a.389. According to court documents, the friend, in a possible bid to save Nashio from an imminent arrest claimed that she had never seen the child and that she did not know who the child belonged to. However, once police officers entered the room and asked Nashio about the baby, she admitted that the toddler was hers.

The police officer who registered Nashio’s arrest, wrote in his report that the child was in grave danger.

“I do believe the baby could have died, kidnapped or have been seriously hurt,” he wrote.

When questioned about how the baby was left unattended, Nashio admitted to police officials that she had went to a friend’s apartment where she drank a lot of alcohol. When coming back home with her child, she was so intoxicated, she left the child unattended outside the home and went inside where she passed out.

Police officers later confirmed that even though it was night, temperatures were still in the 100s and it was very humid as well.

When asked about the incident, Lissa said: “I don’t like child abuse and to me that was child abuse, leaving a kid out there in the heat. I know she was literally blitzed, and I know she told the cops, ‘Oh the baby wanted to be outside.’ The baby’s not old enough to talk yet.”

Meanwhile, police officers added that Nashio lied about several things once she was sober. She also reportedly had two outstanding warrants on her. Later, it was established that Nashio was homeless and that she did not own the apartment she was found in. She is being held on $3,600 bond in Estrella Jail and is facing one count of child abuse. She will appear in court on Monday.

[Image Via Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office]