Mother arrested after leaving children in hot car while shopping at Durbin Park, SJSO says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office arrested a local mother who they say left two children inside a hot car while she shopped at the Pavilion at Durbin Park.

Ronnasia Ferrell, 31, of Jacksonville, is charged with felony child neglect without great bodily harm.

On Thursday afternoon deputies and fire rescue responded to the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot where the two children were observed unattended inside a vehicle.

Fire rescue reported to deputies the car had not been running when they arrived and one of the children was showing signs of “distress.”

The children were reportedly left inside the vehicle for nearly 20 minutes. Police noted the temperature outside that afternoon was 91 degrees.

When questioned, Ferrell, who deputies say had been shopping inside Burlington at the time, was arrested after she could not offer an explanation to why she left the children alone.

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