Nichole Dawn Yazzie (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
A 32-year-old mother in Arizona has been arrested after she allegedly left her 4-year-old daughter in a scorching hot car while she went shopping, telling police that she intentionally made sure the car was not running despite it being 110 degrees outside.
Nichole Dawn Yazzie was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with one count of child abuse, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The child was inside of Yazzie’s vehicle while it was parked outside of a shopping center near Southern Avenue and Stapley Drive at about 7:45 p.m. when she was spotted by two witnesses, Mesa, Arizona, NBC affiliate KNPX reported. The shopping center includes stores such as Five Below, Stapley Goodwill, dd’s Discounts, and WSS, among others, and is located about 15 miles west of Phoenix.
The witnesses reportedly told the emergency dispatcher that the little girl was alone in a parked car with the windows rolled up. The car was not running. The child appeared to be “distressed” and was “excessively sweating,” Glendale, Arizona, news radio station KTAR reported.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they saw Yazzie exiting a store before walking over to the vehicle and opening the right rear door, Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO reported.
Police immediately removed the child from the vehicle, reportedly describing her as being disoriented, pale, and lethargic. Authorities offered the child water and said she “aggressively” grabbed at the beverage and she was placed inside of an air conditioned police car. Police also noted that the child was wearing what appeared to be long cotton pants.
While the temperature outside at the time was 110 degrees, police reportedly said that the inside of Yazzie’s vehicle reached a temperature of 129 degrees while the little girl was trapped inside.
When questioned by police, Yazzie allegedly admitted that she intentionally left her daughter in the locked car, explaining that the child did not want to accompany her into the store. However, she also reportedly admitted that she knew it was too hot to leave her daughter in the car.
“The defendant admitted she knew it was wrong to place her daughter inside of a locked vehicle without the air conditioning on and to leave her unattended,” police wrote in a probable cause affidavit obtained by KTAR.
When asked why she did not leave the car running with the air conditioner on, Yazzie reportedly told police it was because “she didn’t want her daughter to drive away.”
Yazzie was booked into the Maricopa County Jail and her bond was set at $15,000.