Central Florida grandmother accused of leaving toddler alone in hot car at Publix

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — An Ormond Beach woman was arrested Tuesday after deputies say she left her two-year-old grandchild alone in a hot car while she shopped at Publix.

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According to an incident report from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the Publix on Roscommon Drive in Ormond Beach just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon for reports of an unattended child left in a car.

Responding deputies spoke to the store manager, who said they had been informed by another customer at approximately 3 p.m. that a young child had been left alone in the back seat of a Toyota sedan, which was not running, in the middle of the parking lot.

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The manager told deputies she went to the parking lot and saw the child in the car, parked in the sun with the windows only partially lowered.

According to the sheriff’s office, the store manager said she could see that the child was extremely lethargic, so she reached into the car and removed the toddler, noting that they appeared to be “clammy and limp” at the time.

The manager then brought the child into the store, at which point a woman, later identified as 63-year-old Elena Grady, approached and said it was her baby.

According to the sheriff’s office, the manager said when she explained why they removed the baby from the car, Grady said she didn’t know the child couldn’t be left alone in her car.

According to the report, Grady took the child back to the car, placed them inside again without it running, and smoked a cigarette outside the car for approximately two minutes before driving away.

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Deputies say the store manager ran after the car and got identifying information for it before losing sight of it.

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies received surveillance video from the incident, which confirmed the store manager’s version of events.

Deputies traced the description of Grady’s car to an Ormond Beach home near the store and contacted her and the child’s parents. They confirmed that the child was in good health before questioning Grady about what happened.

According to the sheriff’s office, Grady admitted to leaving the child in her car because they were asleep, and she didn’t want to wake them.

Grady claimed she had only been in the store for approximately three minutes, though deputies say surveillance video from the store showed her being inside with the child in the car for more than 15 minutes.

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Deputies say the temperature outside at the time was 91 degrees with a heat index of 101 degrees. Under those conditions, a car parked in the sun can reach 120 degrees within 30 minutes.

Deputies say they found cause to charge Grady, the child’s grandmother, with child neglect for leaving them unattended in a hot car while shopping.

Grady was booked into the Volusia County jail Tuesday evening and has since been released on $3,000 bond.

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