A Pittsburgh woman has been arrested and charged with leaving six children in her vehicle outside of the Municipal Courts Building Thursday.
According to a police report, Shinazja Martinez-Hyde left the children, who police identified as six children between the ages of 4 months and 4 years old in a van with the windows rolled up.
The van in which the suspect left the children had a temperature higher than the temperature outside, according to a responding deputy.
“They immediately began to sweat as the vehicle sat in the direct sunlight,” according to CBS affiliate KDKA. “Deputies also observed that the van only had five seats in the rear but had six occupants inside.”
When Martinez-Hyde returned to the van, she admitted she was the driver of the vehicle where the children were left. It was further revealed that she did not have a driver’s license, only a Pennsylvania ID card.
Medical personnel arrived at the scene to check the children for any possible injuries. They were all cleared. In surveillance footage obtained from the Municipal Courts Building, it was discovered that Martinez-Hyde left the children in the van for approximately 15 minutes.
Following the incident, the children’s grandparents were called and asked to pick up the children. Martinez-Hyde was then arrested and taken into custody.
The suspect faces six counts of endangering the welfare of children, six counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of driving with a suspended license.
In June, Shine My Crown reported that a Florida woman was arrested and charged with child neglect and arson after her vehicle was immersed in flames while her children were inside. According to police, she left her children behind to shoplift at a local mall.
A police report stated that 24-year-old Alicia Moore drove to Dillard’s department store at Oviedo Mall and left her children in the car at the parking lot. Witnesses say they saw Moore accompanied by a man who both went shoplifting at Dillard’s. An hour later, she saw her car caught on fire, so she left the merchandise behind and fled the store.
Mall bystanders rescued the children as they tried to escape the vehicle. The children were rushed to a local hospital where one was treated for first-degree burns to her face and ears, Oviedo Police Department said.
The public defender’s office represented Moore, who at the time of the report was being held on $40,000 bail.
