SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — A 30-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday after allegedly leaving an infant unattended in a vehicle for nearly two hours while temperatures inside the car soared to 100 degrees.
South Salt Lake police responded to the CSL Plasma Center at 2978 S. State St. just before 5:30 p.m. on June 4 following reports of a crying infant inside a parked car. Security camera footage showed the suspect, identified as Leinara Ivanelle Tioa, arriving at the center at approximately 3:43 p.m. She briefly checked on the child before leaving, then returned around 5:23 p.m. to look through the rear driver’s side window where the infant was secured in a car seat.
According to police, the infant had been inside the vehicle for roughly one hour and 48 minutes. The vehicle was parked in direct sunlight with no shade, causing the interior temperature to reach 100 degrees. Officers found the child, who is under one year old, with a fever of 101 degrees.
Tioa reportedly opened the car doors to let in fresh air only after being alerted by another driver who had heard the infant crying and notified plasma center staff.
Detective Ryan Alvarez of the South Salt Lake Police Department emphasized the dangers of leaving children in vehicles during hot weather, saying, “We underestimate as humans how hot it can get inside a car.”
Tioa was taken into custody and booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on suspicion of child abuse and reckless endangerment. Police say the child was placed at substantial risk of death due to the incident.