Natasha Graver, 32, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was charged with felony child abuse for leaving her 4-month-old daughter in her van for about 3-1/2 hours on July 5, 2014.
(Photo: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)
A woman who attended a funeral Saturday nearly had a second one on her hands when she left her 4-month-old daughter in her van for about 3½ hours.
Natasha Graver, 32, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was charged with one count of child abuse, a felony, and was booked early Sunday in Pinellas County Jail. She was later released on $5,000 bond.
Paramedics treated her baby for heat exposure and transported the infant to All Children’s Hospital here, where officials say the child’s condition is stable and that she is likely to survive. The child is undergoing tests.
Graver had decided to attend the funeral of three women killed in a hit-and-run accident June 26, authorities said. She placed her daughter in a child-safety seat in the back seat of her van, went to church but told officers that she forgot to bring the baby in with her, leaving the van with the windows rolled up.
Then she drove home, still forgetting that the child was in the back seat, and went inside, officers said. Graver’s husband, the girl’s father, was there and apparently did not ask where the child was, assuming his wife had left her with a relative.
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When the couple decided to go out to eat, both got into the van, discovered their daughter unresponsive and called emergency officials.
Saturday’s high in St. Petersburg was 87 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Source: USA Today | WTSP-TV, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.
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