A Georgia mother is in jail after her 7-month-old died after being left inside a hot car at her dealership on a scorching day.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has charged Nyla Simmons, 22, with second-degree murder and cruelty to a child. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation on Oct. 16 when Simmons took the unresponsive newborn to a local hospital from the Kia Automotive Dealership on Ledo Road in Albany, Georgia, located in the state’s southwest. Doctors declared the baby, who has not been officially identified, deceased.
Simmons, according to local NBC and ABC station WALB, left the baby in the car before leaving for work at the dealership. She subsequently discovered the infant unresponsive and drove him to the hospital. The coroner performed an autopsy the day after the infant died. The results of the autopsy have not been made public.
Coroner Michael Fowler told WALB that the results could take time to come in.
“If there is not any trauma to the child or injuries to the child, then a lot of time, you got to wait on [toxicology] and the histology, all of that, to come in and see what happened,” Fowler told the station’s reporters.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office requested that the GBI examine the event. Agents apprehended Simmons on November 3.
While it’s unknown how long Simmons allegedly left the baby in the car, Weather Underground reports that temperatures in Albany hit 88 degrees on the day in question.
