Some people should never consider being parents. Terri Hymes, 30, and Archie Howard, 27, are facing multiple charges after their son was found unresponsive in a hot car. The two, who hail from western Pennsylvania, left their boy in a car during the heat of summer while they went into a bar to drink beer.
Authorities were called by a bystander who noticed the 2-year-old boy in the car, hunched over and asleep. When police arrived on the scene, they pulled the boy, sweating and unresponsive, from the car.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “the boy was immediately taken to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he has since been treated and released.”
Hymes, the child’s mother, and Howard, the boy’s stepfather, did leave the windows of the car cracked open, according to investigators. This precautionary measure was not enough to make the conditions safe for the boy on this humid July day, and one shudders to think what could have befallen the child if not for the intervention of the bystander and police who arrived on the scene.
The criminal complaint stated, “as police gathered outside the vehicle waiting for medics to arrive, the mother exited the bar and attempted to get in the car and drive away.”
Police officers on the scene reported that Hymes was “visibly intoxicated.” According to the police report, Howard caused a “disturbance with his voice, and failed to obey police orders.”
Both Howard and Hymes were taken to Allegheny County Jail in the greater Pittsburgh area. Hymes will be charged with felony child endangerment as well as public intoxication and various disorderly conduct charges. Howard will be facing misdemeanor child endangerment charges as well as public intoxication and various disorderly conduct charges.
