A Newnan mother was arrested after she left her 2-year-old son in a hot car for 45 minutes while she smoked marijuana inside an apartment, police said.
Tristen Shayne Formby, 22, faces child cruelty and marijuana possession charges. Police added the latter charge after they found the drugs during Formby’s arrest.
Officers arrived at the 50 block of Newnan Estates Drive on Aug. 31 and found the toddler sweaty, hot to the touch and wailing “mama went bye-bye,” according to a Newnan police report. The car was running, but the air conditioner was not on and no adults were around. The boy’s pulse was 114 beats per minute and his temperature was 98.7 degrees, police said.
After officers gave the boy water and ice to cool him off, they searched for his mother.
Roughly 15 minutes later, Formby walked up with a large picture frame. She told police she had been visiting friends, was picking up pictures and didn’t realize she had been in the upstairs apartment for so long, according to the report.
When officers warned Formby about the car’s risk for being stolen and the dangers of leaving a child in the car, she told police her son was asleep and she didn’t want to take him inside the apartment. She also said she thought she left the air conditioning on, police said.
As Formby was being arrested, an officer noticed a bulge in her right front pocket and asked if she’d been smoking. She admitted she had been smoking, pulled out a plastic bag filled with drugs and told police she smokes “a lot” of marijuana, according to the report.
Formby was handcuffed and taken to the Coweta County Jail, where she remains on a $7,500 bond.
The child was placed in the custody of his father.
In other news:
About the Author
