A Florida woman is facing serious charges after police say she left her three young children locked inside a hot car while she went shopping at Walmart.
Ciera Washington, 29, was arrested in Sunrise, about 10 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, after a passerby made a disturbing discovery in the parking lot on September 14. According to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE, the passerby heard a “faint” knocking sound coming from the trunk of a car around 3:30 p.m.
When he peered inside, he saw two empty car seats and then noticed something alarming: a small child’s foot sticking out from the back seat through an opening into the trunk. Alarmed, he and another person managed to get into the car and found three children inside the trunk.
The car, according to the complaint, was turned off and all the windows were rolled up. The kids were “drenched in sweat and hot,” and the two youngest were found in full diapers with feces on their legs.
After rescuing the children, the Good Samaritan took the oldest child into the Walmart to look for their mother while also calling the police. Officers from the Sunrise Police Department arrived shortly afterward and began investigating. Surveillance video showed Washington inside the store for 39 minutes while the kids were left alone in the vehicle.
When confronted, Washington told police she had left her oldest child in the car with the keys in the ignition and the air conditioner running. She claimed she was only running inside quickly with a friend to buy some household products.
But witnesses disputed that. The man who first noticed the kids told police the oldest child did have the car keys with her inside the vehicle, which meant the air conditioning wasn’t running at all.
Washington reportedly admitted she had made a mistake. She explained that the long checkout lines delayed her and said she thought she’d be back much sooner.
The criminal complaint paints a grim picture of the incident, describing the sweltering conditions inside the trunk and the condition of the children when they were rescued. Thankfully, all three were pulled from the car safely.
Washington has been charged with multiple counts of child neglect and could face serious consequences if convicted.
The shocking case has sparked outrage and serves as a grim reminder of the dangers of leaving children in hot vehicles, even for what may seem like a short errand. Authorities say that with temperatures high and no ventilation, conditions inside a car can become deadly in minutes.