Mum 'locks crying toddler inside scorching 40C car while she goes to cinema'
A teen mother locked her two-year-old daughter inside a blistering hot car so she could go and watch the new Smurfs film without interruption, police say.
Tripura Merriex, 18, was allegedly frustrated that her child's "loud crying" was "disturbing" a cinema trip with her siblings, so proceeded to leave the little girl trapped in the hot car alone, while she carried on watching the movie.
The alleged incident unfolded at the Regal Cinema in Lake City, Utah, on Saturday, where Merriex is said to have left her vulnerable tot in her 2002 Cadillac Escalade. The 18-year-old parent has been charged with felony child neglect, according to US police reports.
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As temperatures skyrocketed to 40C, concerned witnesses called 911 to report Merriex and police were forced to bust a window to rescue the "distressed" child.
In the arrest report, an officer said: "I applied a window break to the driver side window after observing the child in the front passenger seat."
The toddler was "visibly distressed" when she was found trapped inside the vehicle, Law & Crime reports.
Police allege that the two-year-old had "a flushed red appearance, was sweating profusely and was crying in distress". It is believed that the little girl was stuck inside the sweltering hot car for at least 30 minutes.
When her mum eventually came out of the cinema, she was "very nonchalant", the police report claimed. Merriex claimed she "accidentally" locked her tot inside the car and "acted as though the whole situation wasn't a big deal as she just stood next to her vehicle", it said.
The young mum said she initially brought her little girl out to the cinema lobby to keep her from "disrupting other movie viewers' experience," the report continued. After doing this "a few times", she allegedly ended up leaving her daughter alone in the car.
She left the Smurfs film occasionally to go out and check on her daughter, police claim, and even allegedly tasked her siblings with taking it in turns to check on her. Merriex is reportedly being held at the Columbia County Jail on $50,000 (£36,9600) bond.
"Our officers acted swiftly to ensure the safety of this young child," Chief of Police Gerald Butler said in a statement Monday. "Leaving a child unattended in a vehicle under these conditions is unacceptable. We are thankful the child is safe and urge all parents to prioritize the well-being of their children at all times."
The two-year-old girl has recovered from the potentially fatal incident, according to her family who spoke to the local CBS station.
It comes as another woman was arrested last monnth after allegedly leaving her two young children inside a parked car for more than two hours, resulting in the death of one child.
In Bakersfield, California, officers responded to a report of a medical emergency at a business complex on South Real Road. Upon arrival, they discovered a one-year-old and a two-year-old unresponsive inside a vehicle.
Police claim that the children had been left unattended while their mother, 20-year-old Maya Hernandez, was inside a spa. One of the children died from heat-related injuries, while the other was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition.
So far this year, 15 children have tragically died in the United States after being left alone in vehicles, including in California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey, and North Carolina.
According to Kids and Car Safety, a non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting children and pets in motor vehicles, the number of child hot car deaths for 2024 was 39
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