Image source: Knoxville Police Department
A Knoxville foster mother was recently arrested and charged with child endangerment. The woman left a 9-month-old baby inside a hot van. Paramedics took the infant to the Children’s Hospital for treatment. The woman said she forgot about the child.
Knoxville Foster Mother Doesn’t Remember Putting the Baby in the Car
On the 12th of May, a woman dialed 911 after seeing an infant strapped to a minivan’s backseat. The car’s doors were unlocked.
Based on the police report, the incident occurred at Kroger grocery store, a little before 7 p.m.
Upon leaving the store, the woman who called the authorities spotted an infant sitting alone in a minivan. Alarmed, the woman went inside the store and asked a manager for help.
The man took a couple of towels and water and went to the parking lot to free the child from the minivan.
With the doors unlocked, they easily got the infant out of the car. Before the authorities arrived, the woman and the store manager attempted to get his body temperature down by dousing it with chill water. The temperature inside the minivan was 90 degrees.
A quarter of an hour later, a woman, later identified by local authorities as 38-year-Claire Huenefeld, the child’s foster mother, left the store and was heading towards the car.
She was approached by the authorities and asked about the infant. The Knoxville foster mother told them that she forgot about the child. More than that, it would appear that Mrs. Huenefeld has no recollection of having brought the infant to Kroger’s.
Conclusion
The woman was arrested and charged with one count of child endangerment.
As for the child, according to the Knoxville authorities it will be placed in protective custody. The woman was later booked into the Roger D. Wilson detention facility.
