Indiana woman charged after infant left in car at WalMart

A woman accused of leaving an infant unattended in a parked car outside WalMart on Veterans Memorial Parkway in Lafayette was charged Friday with felony neglect of a dependent.

Police responded to the store parking lot June 3, when a passer-by reported that she heard a baby crying inside the parked vehicle for about 20 minutes.

Officer Nathan Lamar removed the child, noting that the baby’s skin was warm to the touch with clothes dampened by sweat on a day when the exterior temperature was 77 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The child was taken to St. Elizabeth East hospital for treatment.

Nearly an hour after the passer-by called police, 23-year-old Kiya Harris of Lafayette exited the store with others and began to leave in the vehicle from which the infant had been rescued.

Lamar stopped them to notify Harris that the baby had been taken to the hospital, the affidavit states.

Harris, who was arrested that day, faces six to 30 months if convicted.