New Canaan Mother Accused Of Leaving Child In Hot Vehicle For 48 Minutes: Cops

This story was updated at 10:46 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017, to add a direct quote and information from a New Canaan police statement.

NEW CANAAN, CT — A 34-year-old New Canaan mother has been charged with risk of injury to a child after she left her 11-week-old baby in a hot vehicle for 48 minutes, endangering the infant's health to the point that the child required hospitalization, according to police.

Kathryn E. Ferguson, of Weed Street, turned herself into police custody Friday afternoon after the department obtained a warrant for her arrest in connection with the July 18 incident on Elm Street.

On that day, officers and emergency medical personnel were dispatched to the scene on a report of a child having been left in a hot car.

By the time authorities arrived, Ferguson had returned to the vehicle and was holding the baby, which police said "appeared to be red in the face and had hair that was matted down with what appeared to be sweat." The child was quickly transported to Norwalk Hospital for evaluation and was later released.

"Ferguson indicated that she had left the child in the vehicle alone for approximately 10 minutes to go shopping and upon returning to the vehicle she observed the child to be crying," wrote New Canaan police in a statement. Officers reviewed surveillance footage from multiple area merchants that showed she allegedly left the child in the vehicle for 48 minutes, with the windows closed, engine off and no air conditioning running.

During that time Ferguson went shoe shopping and bought a cold drink for herself, according to police. The temperature outside was at least 85 degrees, but a weather advisory had been issued that day for excessive temperatures that would feel above 90 degrees, police said.

Ferguson was released after posting a $20,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Norwalk Superior Court on Aug. 22.

Photo: Kathryn E. Ferguson. Photo credit: New Canaan Police Department