Florida Mom Arrested After Being Discovered Inside Hot Car With Child Drenched in Sweat

A stock photo of police tape. (Larry W. Smith/Getty Images)

A Florida baby was rescued from a hot car by deputies, and her mother was arrested. She was found passed out inside the vehicle.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office arrested Kristina Bowermaster on charges of child neglect on June 2 after her 1-year-old was located in the vehicle, reported Action News Jax.

Temperatures in Colombia County reached in excess of 90 degrees Fahrenheit this week, according to forecasters.

Deputies with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office were notified via OnStar vehicle assistance about a child making noises inside a car, the report said.

Upon arrival, deputies saw Bowermaster and the unidentified child both drenched in sweat. There were no drinks in the vehicle, the report said.

The child’s diaper was also so full that it was starting to overflow, according to officials.

Bowermaster refused medical attention for herself and the baby, but she made comments that she was dizzy, light-headed, and thirsty, the report said.

The woman told officials that the last thing she remembered was leaving a Winn-Dixie store at 3 p.m.

The Springfield News-Sun reported that a responding deputy observed a child playing with keys of the car. He was able to open the door of the vehicle as the car window was open about 3 to 4 inches.

Deputies later searched her home and discovered drug paraphernalia used for smoking either crack cocaine or methamphetamine.

Child service workers also noted “abundant child neglect” in the case, without elaborating, Action News Jax reported.

The baby was taken into custody until a family member could arrive to care for the child.

It was the second time in the last three months that the woman was arrested for child endangerment, First Coast News reported. In March, she was arrested after being found asleep in a parking lot of her vehicle with a child in the back seat.

Police found a cut straw with drug residue inside, the report said.

This week, a 19-year-old Florida woman was arrested after she allegedly left her child in a hot car in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, according to the city’s police department in a statement on June 3.

Temperatures this week were in excess of 90 degrees Fahrenheit in DeFuniak Springs.

Police responded to a retail store parking lot after reports of “a child locked in a vehicle with the windows rolled up and not running,” according to the police department’s Facebook post.

During an investigation into the matter, the boy’s mother, identified as Katarina Felipe by local news station MyPandhandle, walked up to emergency personnel.

Felipe stated that her son didn’t want to walk with her and asked to stay in the car, according to police.

Dangerous Situation

Heatkills.org, citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that temperatures range between 80 and 100 degrees, the interior of the car can get to 130 to 172 degrees.

“Children have died in cars with the temperature as low as 63 degrees. Basically, the car becomes a greenhouse. At 70 degrees on a sunny day, after a half hour, the temperature inside a car is 104 degrees. After an hour, it can reach 113 degrees,” stated Jan Null, adjunct professor at San Francisco State University, according to the website.