S.J. Woman Whose Children Were Kidnapped at Liquor Store Facing Abuse Charges

A South Jersey woman’s nightmare scenario in which her children were kidnapped by someone else took a turn for the worse when charges were filed against her.

Kyna C. Garnett, 32, of Lawnside, was charged today on a summons with one count of fourth-degree abuse and neglect, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo said on Wednesday.

Garnett left her Chevrolet Traverse running with her 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son inside when she went to Colombo Liquors on the 500 block of the White Horse Pike in Magnolia around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night.

Surveillance footage from businesses in the area allegedly show 38-year-old Christopher R. Dumas, of Paulsboro, getting into the car and driving away with the children inside just 30 seconds after Garnett left the vehicle and went into the store. Garnett was allegedly in the store for several minutes.

Dumas later allegedly crashed the stolen vehicle into a Suzuski SUV at Merchant Street and Hampshire Avenue in Audubon.

Dumas, the two children and a 48-year-old Mount Ephraim woman who was driving the other car were all taken to Cooper University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Dumas is charged with three counts each of aggravated assault and assault by auto, two counts each of kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child and one count each of theft, receiving stolen property and eluding. He is being held at the Camden County Jail with bail set at $617,500.

Garnett was processed and released on her own recognizance.

A recent Supreme Court ruling determined that leaving a young child in a car is not abuse or neglect, according to nj.com.

The court ruled in August that simply leaving a child alone in a vehicle is not neglect. The decision was unanimous in a 7-0 vote. That ruling came in a case in which a woman was found guilty of child endangerment in 2014 after leaving her 19-month-old daughter alone in a car. The child in that case was unharmed.

In reversing that decision, the court decided the woman deserved a hearing in which all the case’s facts were considered.

That case is unclear because, despite a public safety message posted on the state’s website advising against it, there is no specific state law in New Jersey against leaving children in a car unattended.