Baytown mother fined for leaving children in car

BAYTOWN, Texas (KTRK) -- A young mother was confronted by an angry crowd after leaving her two young children in a car alone and then she had to answer to police.

"You didn't care about your kids when you left them in the car," one woman could be heard yelling on a video of the incident.

"I did. I did," the mother replied.

The confrontation was heated Friday afternoon in the parking lot of the Target on Garth Road in Baytown. According to Baytown police, a mother left her infant and 2-year-old in the car as she went inside. The car was running, the air conditioning was on and a back window was partially down. Others in the parking lot became concerned. One person reached in to unlock the car and got the children out. Summer Dawn Snyder is the person who recorded the incident.

"I was so angry, I was shaking," said Snyder. "I just wanted people to see it's not okay. It was, like, 92 degrees but it felt like 100."

The mother is heard on the video saying she was inside to buy medicine for her child. The Harris County District Attorney's Office declined charges. Instead, Baytown police cited her for leaving her children unattended, a class C misdemeanor that carries a punishment of up to a $500 fine. Police would not identify the mother.

Snyder, 21, is the same age and a mother herself.

"I don't think any amount of time is okay left in the car. I just hope she learned a lesson."

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