Mother leaves baby in hot car
By Elizabeth Billips lizbillips@yahoo.com

A Burke County mother was arrested for leaving her baby in a parked car at Wal-Mart.

Tabatha Gail Skinner, 20, was charged with cruelty to children in the second degree, a felony, after a shopper heard the cries from her 18-month-old son around lunchtime Monday.

According to Chief Investigator Gene Boseman of the Waynesboro Police Department, the child was left alone in an unlocked car with the windows cracked about an inch. The car was parked in the full sun, he said, and the heat index was near 100 degrees when police arrived.

The baby had been in the car 30 to 45 minutes while his mother was inside applying for a job, Investigator Boseman said.

Officers say the baby is doing fine and was released into the care of another family member. Skinner was released from jail on a $5,900 property bond.