METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) — Jefferson Parish deputies say two women from Texas were booked on charges of child desertion and cruelty to a juvenile. Deputies say the women left a two-year-old boy inside a hot car while they shopped at a Wal-Mart.
It happened on July 1 at the Wal-Mart located at 5110 Jefferson Highway. Deputies say Wal-Mart workers discovered the boy, strapped into a car seat, inside a car. They say the boy had vomited on himself and was sweating profusely.
Workers broke a window out of the car. Deputies say the child appeared to be suffering from early stages of heat stroke.
After bringing the child into the store, EMS workers determined that the boy needed no additional medical attention.
Deputies located a woman named Shaun Buchanan of Newark, Texas, who claimed to be the boy’s mother, and Cynthia Simmons of Denton, Texas, who was also determined to be a family relative.
They say the boy was in the car, with the motor off and windows rolled up, for up to 30 minutes while the temperature outside was 90 degrees.
After arresting the women, the child was given to the boy’s father after he arrived at the scene.
