US woman leaves 4-year-old daughter in hot car as she shopped at Walmart

A mother in South Florida was charged with child neglect after she left her four-year-old daughter in a hot car while she went to Walmart for shopping, the police stated, as the New York Post reported. However, the charges against her have since been dropped.

The child was pulled to safety from the vehicle in the parking lot after her mother, Anastasiya Motalava, was in the Walmart for over 30 minutes, the Hollywood police stated.

An eyewitness, who heard the child screaming from the cracked window of the SUV, informed the authorities. Soon after receiving the information, the first respondents rushed to the scene and rescued the girl without breaking any windows, NBC reported.

Accuweather reported that the temperature on the day was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.22 degrees Celsius).

While the four-year-old was stuck inside the hot car, Motalava was witnessed on surveillance cameras shopping, the police stated.

Initially, the police arrested her and charged her with child neglect, but the criminal case was dropped on Thursday, according to local reports.

Broward County prosecutors decided not to pursue the case, citing insufficient evidence and confirming that the child was unharmed. According to the prosecutors, the mother believed she was in the store for only 10 to 15 minutes.

“While the defendant’s conduct is irresponsible, it does not rise to the egregious level of conduct necessary to show culpable negligence,” Broward Assistant State Attorney Melissa Kelly wrote in the memo, NBC 6 reported.

“This was a single isolated incident of what may be deemed poor parental judgement that resulted in the defendant’s arrest on felony child neglect charges.”