Mother charged after leaving her 7-month old baby to die in hot car while she worked
A Georgia mother has been accused of leaving her seven-month-old baby to die inside a hot car while she worked nearby on a scorching day.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), 22-year-old Nyla Simmons allegedly left her infant unattended in a parked vehicle before reporting for work at a Kia automotive dealership on Ledo Road in Albany.
She later discovered the baby unresponsive and rushed the child to a hospital, where the infant was pronounced dead.
The incident, which occurred on October 16, prompted an immediate investigation. Simmons was arrested on November 3 and now faces charges of second-degree murder and cruelty to a child. Authorities have not disclosed how long the baby was left inside the vehicle, though temperatures in the area reached 88°F (31°C) that day.
An autopsy has been completed, but the results are pending. Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler told reporters that toxicology and histology tests are underway to determine the exact cause of death.
In a separate case in Arizona, 37-year-old Christopher Scholtes—who had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the hot-car death of his 2-year-old daughter, Parker—was found dead before his sentencing. Authorities in Phoenix are investigating the incident as a suicide.
Prosecutors in that case said Scholtes had a history of leaving his children unattended in vehicles. Investigators alleged he became distracted by video games and pornography while his daughter remained inside a parked car in Marana for more than three hours on a 109°F (43°C) day in July 2024.
Court documents and text messages obtained by prosecutors indicated a pattern of negligence, with his older daughters confirming their father had left them in vehicles on multiple occasions.
