SOUTH SALT LAKE — A West Valley mother is facing a criminal charge accusing her of leaving her infant son in a car for nearly two hours with the windows mostly rolled up and the vehicle not parked in the shade.
Leinara Ivanelle Tioa, 29, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with aggravated child abuse, a first-degree felony.
On June 4, police were called to the area of 3000 S. State on a report of an infant crying inside a locked vehicle. A passerby noticed the boy, who was later determined to be 10 months old, "crying and kicking within a rear-facing car seat" and called 911 when she couldn't get the doors open, according to charging documents.
"It was also noted that the car was not shaded by trees, buildings, or other vehicles, resulting in (the boy) having direct exposure to the sun. Additionally, three out of four windows were cracked approximately one inch," according to the charges.
Using surveillance video, officers determined the boy was left in the car alone for 108 minutes, the charges state. The temperature inside the vehicle was recorded at 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tioa arrived back in her vehicle just as police were getting there. She said she "believed" it was "only 30 minutes," according to the charges.
"Regardless of time, the act was intentional. According to noheatstroke.org, an average of 37.4 children die from heatstroke inside hot vehicles each year, approximately 21.8% of those deaths were caused by the children being intentionally left in the car," prosecutors wrote in the court documents.
