Mississippi woman out on bond after child left in hot car dies
DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A Mississippi
woman is out on bond after she was charged in connection with
the death of her child last month.
According to the
Hernando Police Department, on June 10, officers learned that a
woman, identified as Quantella Towns, had brought her dead
22-month-old child to Baptist DeSoto Hospital in Southaven.
DeSoto County District Attorney Bob Morris told WREG the
child was left in Town’s vehicle while she worked an entire
shift at the Zaxby’s in Hernando. An initial report from the
county coroner confirmed the child “suffered from substantial
exposure to heat.”
“My understanding is that she was an
employee at the location and that the child had been left in the
vehicle while she went into work,” Morris said.
Investigators said they found “multiple inconsistencies”
regarding the death of Towns’ child.
“There were several
conflicting statements until the detective became involved at
which point the scenario clarified,” said DeSoto County District
Attorney Bob Morris.
Towns was arrested at her home in
Como and charged with child deprivation of necessities with
substantial harm, contribution to the neglect of delinquency of
a child, giving a false statement to law enforcement, driving
with a suspended driver’s license, and not having a card as
proof of insurance.
“The Hernando Police Department has
done an excellent job with their investigation, and essentially
what they were able to do was to pull some video. There was a
good bit of video coverage of the location where the child had
purportedly been found. The child was in a car for a substantial
period of time,” Morris said.
Being a parent himself,
Morris spoke from his heart about the 22-month-old’s death.
“As a father and as a man who sees a lot of cases, this is
one of the more egregious ones I’ve seen, and it’s very
problematic, and it’s troubling,” he said.
Towns is out
on bond, but Morris said her charges could be upgraded once the
state medical examiner’s findings are released.
“We are
confident with the charges as they are right now and I do expect
if the report comes back, as I expect it to, that those charges
will be more serious in nature,” he said.
Morris urges
parents and guardians to use this tragedy as a teaching tool. If
you can’t find a place to go for your children to cool off, call
the police department, health department, or courthouse.
“I don’t think she set out to cause harm. I think she made a
mistake in judgment, but to say it this way, she was aware the
child was in the car,” he said.
We contacted Zaxby’s
corporate office for a comment, but no one was available.
Morris said the matter will be brought before the next
session of the Grand Jury.
“Any time there’s a loss of a child, it’s just a very tragic event no
matter if it’s by natural means or by accident or by some other means,” he
said.