HOUSTON (KPRC/CNN) – A Texas mother was charged with child endangerment after police say she left her four children in a hot car.
Good Samaritan Amber Meadows’ heart skipped a beat when she saw the children – ages 1, 3, 6 and 9 – in a parked car Friday afternoon.
"Terrifying. They were covered in sweat. The little girl had a water bottle, and she was crunching it, trying to get every last drop out,” Meadows said.
Meadows says she gave the children a water bottle she just bought then waited for their guardian to arrive.
After time passed with no sign of anyone, Meadows called her husband to ask what she should do.
"I called my husband, crying, like, 'What do I do?' And he's like, 'Call the police,'" Meadows said.
She did.
After Baytown Police and Fire arrived, Adriana Aranda, the children’s mother, walked out of the store, according to investigators.
"She came up to the car and was like, 'What's going on?'" Meadows said.
Aranda was arrested and charged with child endangerment. The woman previously pleaded guilty to endangering a child in 2014 and spent 200 days in jail, according to records.
Meadows says she did what anyone would have done when she saw the children in the car.
"I'm a mom... That's what you do. You take care of kids," she said.
The outside temperature was 91 degrees while the temperature in the car was 120, according to police.
Investigators urge adults not to leave children behind in hot cars, no matter how quick the trip.
Copyright 2017 KPRC, Amber Meadows via CNN. All rights reserved.
