A 2-week-old baby has been released from the hospital and his young mother arrested after she left the baby in her SUV while taking a cosmetology exam at an Augusta college on Thursday morning, authorities said.
Alicia Manigault, 20, was charged cruelty to children in the second degree.
The suspect told deputies that she left baby Christopher Howard in her 2011 Toyota Forerunner while she took final exams inside the College for Cosmetology School at Virginia College, on Wylds Road in Augusta.
Deputies were dispatched about 8:40 a.m. Thursday when someone saw the child unattended in the SUV. “Christopher was estimated to have been in the vehicle from 30 minutes up to 1 hour,” sheriff’s Sgt. Monica Belser said in a press release.
Deputies found the SUV with the engine turned off. The windows were only down 1-2 inches each, Sgt. Belser said.
“Deputies observed a baby carrier in the rear cargo area of the Forerunner with Baby Christopher inside of it, covered with a white blanket. Deputy Green took immediate action and climbed through the sunroof of the Forerunner, unlocked the doors, and took Baby Christopher out of the vehicle,” Sgt. Belser said. “EMS arrived on the scene and transported the infant to GRU for medical treatment.”
After the baby was stabilized and hydrated, he was released and turned over to his maternal grandmother.
The Department of Children and Family Services responded to GRU and launched their own investigation.
