GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A mother is facing murder charges after police say she left her 1-year-old son in a hot car outside Northside Gwinnett Hospital for nine hours while she worked.
Lawrenceville police say Deja Coleman, 29, dropped her two older children off at daycare Wednesday morning and forgot to make a second trip back to the car to bring the baby inside. She then drove to the hospital, where she works, and parked in the employee lot before starting her shift around 6:55 a.m.
A hospital employee walking to her car around 3:50 p.m. noticed the boy slumped in his car seat and called 911, according to police. Officers working off duty at the hospital broke the vehicle’s window and pulled him out, but he was already dead.
Investigators say the temperature inside the car still read 117 degrees an hour after the window was broken.
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Coleman’s 6-year-old has special needs, and she told police mornings usually followed a set pattern.
“Her normal routine is to take the older kids into daycare, come back and retrieve the baby out of the car seat,” Cpt. Dena Pauly said. “And unfortunately, yesterday morning, she forgot to make that second trip to the car.”
Detectives with Lawrenceville police believe Coleman was not distracted, just overwhelmed. Pauly says officers saw that firsthand once Coleman learned what happened.
“She was devastated,” Pauly said.
Coleman has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children and was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail.
The officer who carried the baby out of the car has access to the department’s peer support program and a therapy dog, resources Pauly says are available anytime officers respond to a child’s death.
Other mothers who heard about the case said it’s hard not to picture their own children.
“It breaks my heart for the family, the baby,” said Jasmine Martinez, a Gwinnett County mother.
Martinez said she started the habit when her own children were younger, after hearing about similar tragedies.
“I was constantly always looking back, always looking back, because of stories like this that have happened through the time of me becoming a mom,” Martinez said.
Pauly says parents who feel like they’re running on fumes should not wait until something goes wrong to ask for help.
“Slow down,” Pauly said. “Slow down in life. If you need help, seek help. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself so that you can take care of your children.”
Families struggling with childcare can contact the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services for available resources.
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