SOLON, Ohio (WOIO) – A Bedford Heights mother was charged with child endangerment after she left her kids alone in the car while she went shopping.
Solon police officers were shocked when they found a crying 1- and 6-year-old left alone in the car while their mother shopped at Giant Eagle.
19 Investigates obtained police body camera video of the incident.
“Where’s your mommy at?” an officer asked the older child.
“In the store because she do Instacart,” the 6-year-old said.
Solon police were called to the Giant Eagle on Aurora Road on February 4 after a shopper reported the incident to an employee. Officers found the kids in the car by themselves. The car was still running, and the doors were unlocked.
The employee told police the kids had been alone in the car for more than five minutes when they arrived. Officers paged the mom and got her out of the store about six minutes later.
“You can’t leave your kids in the car by themselves like that,” an officer told the mother.
“But they were sleeping and I just went to get in there really quick for their dinner,” the mom said. “What’s wrong were they crying or something?”
“Yeah, they were crying and all the doors were unlocked,” the officer replied.
“Anybody could walk up and jump in the car and take off and leave,” another officer added.
26-year-old Mycal Davis was charged with child endangerment.
“Let me put it to you this way when we get calls of dogs being left in the hot summer car or whatever we write people a ticket for animal cruelty,” an officer explained to the mother. “These are both human beings right you take a little more care of them than our own pets you know what I mean?”
Thankfully both kids were safe but sometimes these situations can take a much scarier turn. Last November a Cleveland mom left her 8-year-old son asleep in the car while she ran out to pick up food.
“While she got out of her vehicle, she noticed another car pulled up next to her car, and the next thing she knew, her car was quickly being driven away,” said Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz with Cleveland police.
The thief let the boy go and he was found wandering around nearby shortly after the crime but these terrifying incidents do happen and they’re preventable.
According to Kids and Car Safety last year 118 children in the United States were left unattended in cars that were then stolen. In Ohio, there were nine children left in cars that were stolen in 2024.
Parents should never leave a child or a pet alone in their car, even for a minute. Parents can also use a drive-through or curbside pickup, so they don’t have to get out of their car. A lot of businesses will accommodate parents with small children if parents call ahead.
Davis will be in court on February 26.
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