Parents Charged After 4-Week-Old Baby Found Distressed In Hot Car While They Overdosed On Drugs

A Missouri couple has been charged after their 4-week-old baby was found distressed in a hot car while they overdosed on drugs.

Deputies from Washington Police Department responded to the report of two people found "slumped" over inside a parked vehicle, Friday. While the paramedics were trying to revive the couple, they discovered an infant covered in a blanket in a car seat in the back seat of the vehicle.

The baby was found distressed due to the heat inside the vehicle that had windows rolled up and the engine not running, reported news outlet Emissourian.com.

The police charged the couple, identified as 40-year-old John A. Carpenter and 25-year-old Haley Kester, Sunday on counts of first-degree child endangerment.

“The infant was treated at the scene and transported to Mercy Hospital Washington by medical personnel, due to the infant showing signs of being in distress due to the heat,” Washington Police Department Sgt. Detective Steve Sitzes said in a press release Sunday.

The child was released to the Franklin County Children’s Division after treatment, news outlet KY3 reported.

After efforts from the paramedics, the couple was revived but they refused further medical treatment at the scene. The investigators seized drugs including heroin and fentanyl from the vehicle and they were taken into custody. It is not clear how long the child was locked inside the parked vehicle.

According to court records, both Carpenter and Kester have previous charges on unrelated incidents. Carpenter served three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for forgery while Kester was charged with second-degree assault in September 2020. Kester's charges stem from an incident while she was living in Washington. She is scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on the case next week.

The court records also show that Kester was sentenced to five years probation after she pleaded guilty in 2018 for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia in Warren County. She completed her probation in March.

Last month, a couple in Florida was arrested after their 1-year-old daughter died of a drug overdose. Charquez Giles and Latonia Clemons, of Lake Worth Beach, were arrested after the medical examiner ruled the child's death was caused by fentanyl and cocaine intoxication. The infant was found abandoned outside a relative's home on July 10 and died later that day at a hospital.