Lawrenceville Police have charged a mother after her 1-year-old child was found dead in a hot car outside the hospital where she works.
Officers arrested Deja Coleman, 29, on Wednesday at Northside Gwinnett Hospital.
Police say the 1-year-old was inside the car for nine hours.
Coleman faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree felony cruelty to children.
Coleman drove to work and parked in the employee lot and went inside for her shift at 6:50 a.m., according to investigators.
Coleman told officers that she has three children and drove them to daycare earlier that day. Police say she took her 6-year-old and 4-year-old inside but didn’t drop off her 1-year-old.
“Her normal routine is to take the older kids into daycare, come back and retrieve the baby out of the car seat,” Cpt. Dena Pauly said. “And unfortunately, yesterday morning, she forgot to make that second trip to the car.”
A hospital employee walking to her car around 3:50 p.m. noticed the boy slumped in his car seat and called 911, according to police.
Officers working off duty at the hospital broke the vehicle’s window and pulled him out, but he was already dead.
“I know that they took the inside reading of the car approximately one hour after the child was removed, and the temperature one hour later was 117 degrees,” Capt. Pauly said.
Capt. Pauly said officers found the mother by running the car tags, and when they told her what had happened, “she was devastated.”
Police noted that
detectives with Lawrenceville police believe Coleman was not distracted, just overwhelmed.
“Slow down,” Pauly said. “Slow down in life. If you need help, seek help. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself so that you can take care of your children.”
Coleman’s 6-year-old has special needs, and she told police mornings usually followed a set pattern.
During an interview, Coleman told investigators she drove her three children to Starlight Academy Daycare for morning drop-off.
Coleman told police her routine was to drop her two older children off at daycare, take them inside first because one has special medical needs, and then return to the car for the baby. She told investigators she forgot to make that second trip Wednesday morning after arriving at work around 6:55 a.m.
The officer who carried the baby out of the car has access to the department’s peer support program and a therapy dog, resources Pauly says are available anytime officers respond to a child’s death.
In the viral moment, a hospital employee noticed the boy slumped inside the locked vehicle in the employee parking lot around 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29, while Coleman was working her shift inside the building.
Officers who were working part-time at the facility arrived quickly and broke the car window to reach the child, but he was already dead in his car seat.
The temperature inside the car measured 117 degrees an hour after the child was removed, showing the extreme heat the boy endured during his nine hours locked inside.
Coleman’s other children are in the custody of their father, police said.