This episode happened Tuesday here in Memphis. Some people definitely are not fit to be parents.
Careless Mistake" says Mother of Twins Left in Hot Car
8/2/2006
MEMPHIS,TN-Memphis police have now charged Carlesia Johnson with two counts of reckless endangerment for leaving her children inside a car in the sweltering heat. It's a misdeamnor and some say only slap on the wrist for a crime that could have ended in a fatality. However, Johnson tells News Channel 3 in a telephone interview, it's a testament to the kind of mother she really is.
We went to Johnson's Southeast Memphis apartment to talk to her. We were told she was home but no one came to the door. It looked like we would not hear from her until she answered our telephone call. When asked why she left them, she said, "I'm a pretty good mother I know that. I just made a careless mistake."
Johnson told us she just moved to the area and was unfamiliar with the way the Department of Human Services worked. She said, "I intended to go in there and pass some stuff and leave back out."
It didn't happen that way. She signed in at the office at 10:14 a.m. at 10:49 a.m. The children were found by a passerbyer crying and drowning in sweat. Johnson told us she checked on them during that time. She told me, "when I arrived there I came back out and cranked the car up and sat in the car with the children. Did you know that? You didn't know that did you. I feel like you all just hear the bad part. Just like when I went yesterday and they gave me my children back because they realize what kind of person I am."
The Department of Children's Services says they returned the children to the mother because that's the best place for them but case workers are monitoring their care. Spokesperson, Rob Johnson said, "On one hand you always have to make sure that safety of a child comes first. On the other hand you have to balance that with the potential trauma it would take to take a child in particular a very young child into state custody."
DCS says they are making sure the family has the potential to care for the children. Something Carlesia Johnson says she can do. She tells us she graduated from high school with honors, has a college degree and is a licensed paramedic.
Here is a continuation of the above story!
Police Say Charges To Come For Twin Infants' Mother
Aug 1, 2006 08:50 PM CDT
Memphis -- "I don't want to talk about nothing." The father of the 5-month old twin infants left sitting inside a hot Buick is just about as upset as anyone. Investigators say, the twins mother left them in their carseats covered in blankets, pacifier on the roof of the car, with just one window cracked about an inch.
Police say she spent more than 30 minutes inside the Public Assistance Center on Jackson Avenue. Kristopher Askew just happened to hear the children crying as he pulled in the parking lot. "The babies was sweating real bad, and the blanket was laying over the little boy head," Askew says.
Askew reached through the window, unlocked the doors and was able to get the children out. The infants were treated at LeBohner Hospital for dyhydration. Investigators say, if it hadn't been for the good samaritan, things could have been much worse, especially with temperatures soaring to 98 degrees Tuesday. "It's just unfathomable. It's totally preventable. It represents neglect on behalf of parents," Safe Kids Coalition Director Susan Helms says. Investigators say they're preparing a case to present to the grand jury. They say mom will likely be charged with reckless neglect endangerment charges.
Careless Mistake" says Mother of Twins Left in Hot Car
8/2/2006
MEMPHIS,TN-Memphis police have now charged Carlesia Johnson with two counts of reckless endangerment for leaving her children inside a car in the sweltering heat. It's a misdeamnor and some say only slap on the wrist for a crime that could have ended in a fatality. However, Johnson tells News Channel 3 in a telephone interview, it's a testament to the kind of mother she really is.
We went to Johnson's Southeast Memphis apartment to talk to her. We were told she was home but no one came to the door. It looked like we would not hear from her until she answered our telephone call. When asked why she left them, she said, "I'm a pretty good mother I know that. I just made a careless mistake."
Johnson told us she just moved to the area and was unfamiliar with the way the Department of Human Services worked. She said, "I intended to go in there and pass some stuff and leave back out."
It didn't happen that way. She signed in at the office at 10:14 a.m. at 10:49 a.m. The children were found by a passerbyer crying and drowning in sweat. Johnson told us she checked on them during that time. She told me, "when I arrived there I came back out and cranked the car up and sat in the car with the children. Did you know that? You didn't know that did you. I feel like you all just hear the bad part. Just like when I went yesterday and they gave me my children back because they realize what kind of person I am."
The Department of Children's Services says they returned the children to the mother because that's the best place for them but case workers are monitoring their care. Spokesperson, Rob Johnson said, "On one hand you always have to make sure that safety of a child comes first. On the other hand you have to balance that with the potential trauma it would take to take a child in particular a very young child into state custody."
DCS says they are making sure the family has the potential to care for the children. Something Carlesia Johnson says she can do. She tells us she graduated from high school with honors, has a college degree and is a licensed paramedic.
Here is a continuation of the above story!
Police Say Charges To Come For Twin Infants' Mother
Aug 1, 2006 08:50 PM CDT
Memphis -- "I don't want to talk about nothing." The father of the 5-month old twin infants left sitting inside a hot Buick is just about as upset as anyone. Investigators say, the twins mother left them in their carseats covered in blankets, pacifier on the roof of the car, with just one window cracked about an inch.
Police say she spent more than 30 minutes inside the Public Assistance Center on Jackson Avenue. Kristopher Askew just happened to hear the children crying as he pulled in the parking lot. "The babies was sweating real bad, and the blanket was laying over the little boy head," Askew says.
Askew reached through the window, unlocked the doors and was able to get the children out. The infants were treated at LeBohner Hospital for dyhydration. Investigators say, if it hadn't been for the good samaritan, things could have been much worse, especially with temperatures soaring to 98 degrees Tuesday. "It's just unfathomable. It's totally preventable. It represents neglect on behalf of parents," Safe Kids Coalition Director Susan Helms says. Investigators say they're preparing a case to present to the grand jury. They say mom will likely be charged with reckless neglect endangerment charges.
