Georgia Mother Charged After Baby Dies in Hot Car Outside Auto Dealership
A 7-month-old baby died after being left in a hot car outside a Georgia car dealership last month — and the child’s mother is now facing criminal charges.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a Nov. 5 news release that 22-year-old Nyla Simmons was arrested on Nov. 3 and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children after her infant was brought to a hospital in Albany and pronounced dead.
Authorities said the Lee County Sheriff’s Office requested GBI assistance on Oct. 16 after deputies responded to the hospital regarding the child’s death. An online obituary identifies the baby as Novanni Truvan Simmons, who was born in March of this year.
Deputies told investigators the child had been brought in from the Kia Automotive Dealership on Ledo Road in Albany, according to the GBI.
Simmons, who worked at the dealership, allegedly left her baby inside her vehicle before beginning her shift, reports from Law & Crime, WALB and the Tampa Free Press indicate. Weather Underground data cited by the outlets show temperatures reached around 88 degrees that day in Albany.
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Officials have not shared how long the child remained inside the car.
Lee County Coroner Hill Mackey told WALB that the baby’s body was sent for an autopsy on Friday, Oct. 17, and the official cause of death is still pending results.
“People get upset because they think after the autopsy you should have an answer,” Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler told the outlet. “If there is not any trauma to the child or injuries to the child, then a lot of time, you got to wait on tox and the histology, all of that, to come in and see what happened.”
Investigators said Simmons was identified as a suspect based on interviews and evidence collected during the inquiry. She was arrested at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and booked into the Lee County Jail, where records show she is being held without bond.
The GBI noted that the investigation remains active. Once complete, the case will be forwarded to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
