INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Kimberly Rosario: Texas Mother ‘Forgets’ Baby Inside Hot Car, Arrested For Child Endangerment

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 11:35 PST, Sep 1, 2016

Kimberly Rosario, a 27-year-old woman from McKinney, Texas, was arrested by officials from the McKinney Police Department after she “forgot” her baby inside a hot car for over 30 minutes. According to a report by local news channel CBS DFW, the baby was left inside the car in the hot sun inside a Target parking lot located at 25 N. Central Expressway for more than 30 minutes. The incident reportedly happened on Wednesday, earlier this week. The report added that Kimberly was there to have an eye exam and that she completely forgot the fact that her baby was inside the car. Officials have not revealed the age of the child.

The baby was reportedly found in distress by a passerby who called emergency services and reported that a baby was trapped inside a hot car. To ensure the safety of the baby, the caller said he broke one of the car windows to gain access to the child. Initial reports say that the temperatures inside the car was recorded at 130 degrees a few minutes after the baby was rescued.

Emergency services reached the spot almost 10 minutes after the call was made. They were the ones who also measured the temperature inside the hot car at 130 degrees, which meant that the temperatures inside the car was higher when the baby was inside it. Following the arrival of the emergency crew, the baby was given first aid and was subsequently transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The condition of the baby remains unknown at this point in time.

Later, officials from the McKinney Police Department identified the owner of the vehicle and found that Kimberly was the mother of the baby and that she was at a nearby clinic for an eye exam. At this time, officials have not revealed if Kimberly was intoxicated or under the influence of any drugs which could have led her to “forget” the fact that she was traveling with her baby in the car. Kimberly was subsequently arrested for abandoning and endangering a child.

Following the incident, officials from the McKinney Police Department have started a drive that aims to remind parents to avoid forgetting their children in the backseat of their cars. Some of the tips given by police officials include placing their cell phones, purses, or briefcases in the back seat near the child as a reminder.

Meanwhile, people who read about the incident reacted angrily to the increasing number of child endangerment cases. A comment on a Facebook thread discussing the incident read,

“I’m convinced people are now doing this with the hope that their child will die and they won’t have to deal with them anymore. Most of the time the parents aren’t prosecuted so they figure they will get a free pass too. Start prosecuting all of them and I bet this stops!”

Another commenter finds the possibility of leaving one’s kids in the car nearly impossible and called for harsher penalties.

“Its just getting too common to leave a child in a car these days. Penalties need to be harsher. I had 2 kids, 6 grandkids and 4 great-grandkids and no one in our family has ever forgotten them and left them in the car. I don’t buy it for a minute,” she said.

Another woman voiced a similar opinion,

“How are these people constantly ‘forgetting’? My 4 year old noticed I walked in without her little sister yesterday and goes ‘mom I think you forgot her in the car!’ She hadn’t even been running errands with me but even she knew something was up. I had dropped her off at her grandma’s, but come on, if a 4 year old notices something is missing what’s wrong with these parents?”

Do you think cases that involve parents forgetting their babies in cars deserve harsher punishments?

[Image Via McKinney Police Department]

Share this article: Kimberly Rosario: Texas Mother ‘Forgets’ Baby Inside Hot Car, Arrested For Child Endangerment
More from Inquisitr