43
Austintown mom faces charges after leaving kids alone in cold car
BOARDMAN
An Austintown woman faces charges of endangering children after police accused her of leaving her two young kids in the car in freezing weather while she shopped at Target.
Charged with two misdemeanor counts is Jonnise Collins, 25, of Compass West Drive.
The charges stem from an incident reported Wednesday night by someone who saw a young child standing alone and crying in the parking lot of the Target store on U.S. Route 224.
That person reportedly brought the child into the store to get warm. When township police arrived, the little girl reportedly told them she was 4 years old and identified her mother’s car for them.
“When we looked inside the SUV, we discovered another very young male child in a car seat inside the vehicle. The vehicle was unlocked and not running,” police said in a report.
Police found Collins in a checkout line with three other children, and later arrested and booked her on the charges.
According to the police report, surveillance footage provided by store security recorded Collins entering the store at 8:05 p.m. and going through checkout 42 minutes later, at 8:47 p.m.
Reached by The Vindicator for comment Thursday, Collins disputed the police version of events, saying she was in the store for only 27 minutes. She said she left the two children in the car because they were asleep and she did not want to take them out into the cold.
Police reported at the time it was 18 degrees but felt like 5 degrees due to the wind-chill factor.
Collins acknowledged she made a “bad decision” and asserted that she’s a good mother. She said she is a single mom and that she works and spends the rest of her time caring for her children.
“I have my kids every day. Every day,” she said. “I’m a great mom.”
Police Chief Jack Nichols said that in this case, there was no ambiguity about the children’s safety.
“There’s nothing in the law that’s hard and fast, but in that particular case they found a 4-year-old standing alone in the parking lot in 5-degree weather,” he said. “By any measure, that’s child endangering.”
He said that a determination of child endangering is based on “the totality of the circumstances.” A 14-year-old waiting in the car is different, for example, than a 4-year-old waiting in the cold, he said.
“There’s no law that says, ‘You can only leave your kids in the car for five minutes, or 25 minutes,’” Nichols said. “All of the circumstances have to be taken into account.”
As for parents who might consider leaving their children unattended, he was quick to say: “It’s not OK to leave your kids alone in the car in the parking lot.”
Collins appeared in Mahoning County Area Court here Thursday for arraignment. She entered a plea of not guilty. Judge Joseph M. Houser set a $5,000 recognizance bond, which not does require payment from her at this time.