Community Corner

Woman Rescues Infant from Hot Car Outside Courthouse

Courtney Kidd of Clayton County is charged with child cruelty after leaving his 3-month-old daughter in a hot car outside the courthouse in Jonesboro.

Even as national attention is focused on the death of a metro Atlanta child left in a hot car, another Georgia parent faces charges of child cruelty for leaving his infant in a vehicle, but she was rescued by a Good Samaritan.

Courtney Kidd mistakenly thought babies couldn’t be taken into a Georgia courthouse, so he left his child in a hot car Monday, and found himself arrested for child cruelty.

The baby was rescued from the hot car by a woman who saw the 3-month-old girl’s father leave her in the vehicle, reports WSB TV. The car was parked outside the Clayton County courthouse in Jonesboro. Temperatures reached 90 degrees in the afternoon.

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I’ve been in my car for the last five minutes and I’m perspiring and my body is overheated, so you can imagine how hot it was for the 3-month-old child who was left in this car,” Phoebe Fletcher told WSB. "The doors were locked, so I kind of got one of the windows down and I just took her; took her, the diaper bag,” Fletcher said. “Soon as I got her, she was smiling."

Kidd, 37, apparently thought court staff told him babies aren't allowed in the courthouse. Sources told WSB-TV that Kidd was told to take the baby out of her car seat and send the car seat through the security scanner. Kidd turned around and left.

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Summer months pose a danger to any people or pets left inside vehicles.

The June 18 death of 2-year-old Cooper Harris when his father left him inside a hot car while Justin Ross Harris worked all day at Home Depot’s corporate headquarters in metro Atlanta drew national attention.

Harris faces felony murder and second-degree child cruelty following the death of his son. Investigators believe Harris intentionally left Cooper in the hot car to die.

To help remind drivers when they have young passengers in the back seat, Andrew Pelham 11, of Nashville, Tn., invented the EZ Baby Saver. The bright neon contraption made of rubber bands and duct tape bars drivers from leaving the vehicle. The strap stretches from the vehicle’s back seat and attaches to the driver’s side door.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Decatur-Avondale Estates