The father accused of leaving his 3-month-old daughter inside his car while he went inside the Clayton County courthouse was granted $20,000 bond at his first court appearance Tuesday. And he was ordered to have no contact with the baby.
But because he was on probation at the time of his arrest Monday, Courtney Lamont Kidd remained in jail Tuesday afternoon, according to booking records.
Kidd was attempting to bring the baby girl inside the courthouse Monday morning in an infant seat when he was told to remove the child and put the car seat through the metal detector, Channel 2 Action News reported.
But Kidd apparently misunderstood and believed he was not allowed to bring the baby into court. A woman watched Kidd carrying the baby back to the parking lot, where he put the child and car seat back into his car and returned to court, according to the report.
The woman told Channel 2 she waited several minutes, and when the man didn’t return, she called 911 and got the baby out of the car by unlocking the door through a cracked window. The child was not injured.
“I have a daughter, and I would never leave my baby in the car and I wouldn’t leave anyone else’s baby in the car either,” the woman, Phoebe Fletcher, told Channel 2.
When he returned from court, Kidd, 37, of Forest Park, was arrested and charged with felony cruelty to children, a spokeswoman for the Clayton County jail said Monday afternoon.
Kidd has a prior felony record and was last released from state prison in February 2009 after serving 19 months for conviction on cocaine possession, obstruction and loitering charges, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
The baby was released Monday to her grandmother.
About the Author
