Woman arrested, child left in hot car in jail parking lot

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The Orange County Sheriff's Office says Rachel Etienne's visit to the Orange County Jail landed her behind bars.

Deputies said Etienne left her two-year-old daughter sitting in her car with the engine off while visiting someone locked up there.

They said the toddler was baking in the car with a 110-degree heat index for more than twenty minutes.

Luckily, an alert staff member patrolling the parking lot noticed the girl in the car. They freed the child, who deputies said was sweating heavily.

Firefighters checked the child out, and said she was okay. Etienne's neighbor, Michelle Brown, said she's warned her about this.

“We told her about that you can't leave them for no length of time in a car. We actually spoke to her about this before,” Brown said, “she was like, 'I just ran in the house to get clothes!' but we were outside. It was a good twenty minutes, at least.”

Brown said she doesn't understand why Etienne didn't seem to get the message.

“No minutes, none. You get them out, just like you get out. Why couldn't she have taken the child in with her?” Brown asked.

Etienne is charged with child neglect. Her daughter is now with the Department of Children and Family Services.