An Alabama man who saw a baby inside of a hot car smashed a window to free the baby.
Jermius Scott said that he was walking to his car on May 26 when he saw the infant in a black car that was parked next to his.
The baby was alone.
“When I saw him cry it almost made me cry so I hit one time and it bust,” Scott told WPMI.
“I was going crazy just thinking it’s a kid,” he added.
Tarance James, who witnessed what happened, said that the baby’s condition was so severe that it started turning purple.
“I see the baby turning purple it was sweating, I looked at the scalp it was dry and had dandruff,” James said, adding, “so, when they got the baby out of the car and the back was wet, the pamper was wet, the baby wanted to cry but it couldn’t cry, I’m like ‘oh man.’”
Scott confirmed that the baby was purple.
“I really used my elbow to bust the window. Seeing the baby turning purple in that car, I couldn’t just leave that baby in there like that, man. That’s dead wrong,” he told Fox 10.
Neighbors rescue infant left inside parked vehicle overnight https://t.co/6mfATqpfyj
— Sarah Facemire (@SFacemire) May 30, 2019
The Mobile Police Department said that the baby was left in the vehicle for approximately 12 hours, starting around 9 p.m. His father was supposed to be taking care of him.
“I don’t know who it was and don’t want to know because, you know, you’re not supposed to hate nobody, but that’s a hateful situation,” Scott said.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital and the Alabama Department of Human Resources was informed of what happened, reported the Alabama Journal-Constitution.
Police officers were investigating the case as possible reckless endangerment.
A 4-month old baby was left in a car for 12 hours overnight, according to Mobile police. Police say someone found the baby in the car on Bloodgood Street and broke the window to get the baby out. officers say the baby was in distress but is alive. https://t.co/3bY0LStmPN
— Kym Anderson (@Kym_nbc15) May 29, 2019
The father told investigators that he forgot the boy was in the vehicle after he dropped his two other children off at the home of their grandmother, reported WPMI.
“We were told the father is not allowed to be alone with the baby,” WPMI added. It wasn’t clear whether he was legally barred or told by family members not to have the baby by himself.
Officers said the baby was recovering and now in the care of his mother.
No charges had been filed against the father as of May 30 and it appeared that no updates had been reported as of then.
According to data from Weather Underground, the temperature in Mobile late May 25 was approximately 73 degrees Fahrenheit.
The temperature dipped slightly before starting to rise at 2 a.m. and hitting 91 degrees around the time the baby was rescued.
On average every year, according to advocacy website Kids and Cars, 37 children die from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside vehicles.
“Even the best of parents or caregivers can unknowingly leave a sleeping baby in a car; and the end result can be injury or even death,” it stated.
