Posted June 7, 2005, Updated June 8, 2005
nbc5i.com
CEDAR HILL, Texas -- Cedar Hill police are investigating a case of a child being left inside a hot car in the parking lot of a Cedar Hill Wal-Mart.
Lt. Steve Lafferty said a female store employee removed the 2-year-old child from a sport utility vehicle at 621 Uptown Blvd., just south of FM 1382."She went inside [the store] … She went back out and checked on the vehicle. The child was still in the car so she removed the child from the car, took [the child] inside and contacted police," he said.
Lafferty also said the SUV reached an internal temperature of more than 100 degrees before the woman rescued the child. The infant may have been in the car for as long as 30 minutes, police said. Police arrested the child's mother, Tomisha Gist-Terry, who had been driving the SUV."The driver's been arrested, at this time, for outstanding warrants. The investigation is still pending," Lafferty said.
Gist-Terry will also likely face charges relating to child-endangerment, police said. The woman was with two other adults, all of whom went inside the Wal-Mart to shop, the lieutenant said. The child is in state custody and being treated at Children's Medical Center Dallas, but her condition is not known. NBC 5 reported that when found, the child was covered with sweat. Similar Rescue Last week, firefighters had to rescue an infant in a similar situation by breaking a car window. For more than a half-hour, the child was locked in his car seat inside a car parked near Medical City. The baby was not seriously hurt. Dire Consequences In 2003, 10 children died in hot cars across Texas, and state officials are trying to make sure that never happens again. Last week, they launched the new "Look Before You Leave" campaign to remind parents and others that it is never acceptable to leave children locked inside a vehicle -- regardless of the weather.http://www.nbc5i.com/news/4580369/detail.html