A mother is accused of leaving her child inside a frozen car for seven hours after the vehicle got into a wreck. Authorities are yet to release any statement regarding the reason behind the mother leaving the two-year-old boy alone.
ABC 13 reported that investigators have identified the mother as Nicole Carmon. She first told them that her car had been in a wreck and she left her car overnight in a parking lot in Thornton.
Officers said they found the toddler inside the car and was in distress. He also suffered from frostbite and hypothermia. Swedish Medical Center's Dr. Jared Scott said in a statement regarding hypothermia, "Hypothermia in extreme cases can be deadly, whereas frostbite, there can be dire consequences, such as losing the tip of your nose."
The mother also told the 911 dispatcher that she did not know how she was able to get home and could not find her son at home. Officers looked for the car and searched for the boy for more than an hour.
The authorities found the vehicle, a 2013 green Ford Fusion, at the parking lot of a Thornton mall. The car was covered in snow and it showed no signs that it was involved in any accident, The Washington Post reported.
The night before the boy was discovered, the temperatures dropped below zero. Police spokesman Matt Barnes said that because the car was blanketed with snow, there was no way to see what or who was inside the vehicle. The boy was rushed to a hospital and is expected to live.
The 26-year-old mother was then arrested and charged with felony child abuse. She was held at the Adams County Detention Center.
Meanwhile, it is still unknown if the mother has an attorney representing her and if she has entered a plea. It was not stated what possible punishment would the mother face if found guilty considering the other circumstances.
