A Colorado mother accused of leaving her 2-year-old son inside her parked car for as many as 14 hours in subzero temperatures, causing the child to suffer frostbitten toes, made her first court appearance on Monday, authorities said.
Nicole Alexandria Carmon, 26, from the Denver suburb of Westminster, was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of reckless child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, a felony, after her son was found inside the vehicle suffering from hypothermia, police said
Police said Carmon told them she was involved in an accident Friday night, left her car and got a ride home before realizing her son was still inside the vehicle, the affidavit said.
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Carmon told a detective she drank six shots of vodka Friday night, police said.
The events unfolded after the child’s babysitter called Westminster police to report that Carmon had come to her house looking for the boy, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The child was found on Saturday morning inside the vehicle, which was in a restaurant parking lot and covered in six inches of snow, police said.
The toddler was transported to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with hypothermia and frost bite to his feet, Thornton Police said in a statement.
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Police said that Carmon on Friday night had gone to a convenience store near where her car was found.
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In images of Carmon on the store’s surveillance video, she appeared “to be slightly crying or whimpering,” and “she had the appearance of being under the influence of a drug or alcohol or both,” according to the affidavit.
The National Weather Service said during the time the boy was left in the car, a snowstorm passed over the state and temperatures plummeted from 9 degrees to -8 degrees Fahrenheit, according to police.
Carmon is being held on a $50,000 bond, jail records show, which did not indicate if she had retained or been appointed a lawyer.
Carmon did not enter a plea and is set to be back in court on Wednesday, according to the Adams County District Court website. (Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Curtis Skinner and Leslie Adler)
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