LAKE CITY, Fla. — A woman is facing charges after police say she left her 2-year-old child locked in a hot car outside a movie theater in Lake City.
It happened Saturday, July 19, around 5:49 p.m., at Regal Cinema 90 on West U.S. Highway 90.
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Police found the toddler alone inside the vehicle, flushed, sweating, and crying. Officers broke a window to rescue her.
She was taken to Lake City Medical Center for treatment.
Investigators say the child’s mother, Tipora Merriex, had returned to the theater after taking her daughter and younger siblings to the movies.
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Witnesses told police Merriex stayed inside while the child was left in the vehicle with no supervision.
At the time, the temperature outside was 94 degrees with a heat index of 107.
Merriex was arrested and charged with child neglect.
Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler said, “Leaving a child unattended in a vehicle under these conditions is unacceptable… We are thankful the child is safe.”
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