16 Day-Old Infant Left Inside Hot Vehicle in Slidell Expected to Make Full Recovery

An alert Wal-Mart employee and Slidell Police officers are being credited with saving the life of a 16-day-old infant, who was left inside of a car on Thursday (July 7, 2022) in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Around 10am this morning (Thursday, July 7), Slidell Police received a call about a woman, who was visibly impaired with her infant child, in the parking lot of a local Walmart store. When officers arrived, they were unable to locate the woman, who was later identified as 37-year-old, Ashley Kennedy of Minden, Louisiana. Witnesses told officers that she left the area in grey Honda Odyssey minivan. As officers were searching for the vehicle, about an hour later, an alert Walmart employee called Slidell Police and stated Kennedy was back at Walmart, but this time shopping inside of the store without her child. 

Slidell Police rushed to Walmart and located Ashley Kennedy, reportedly highly intoxicated, inside of the store, and her 16-day-old child inside of the Honda minivan, covered in a blanket. Officers forced their way into the vehicle and discovered the vehicle to be extremely hot with the air conditioner  blowing hot air. The lethargic infant was rushed to a nearby hospital, and miraculously, is expected to survive and make a full recovery. It was also discovered that Kennedy was involved in a hit and run accident earlier in the day.

Kennedy was placed under arrest and booked into the Slidell City Jail on charges of Cruelty to Juveniles, 3rd Offense DWI with Child Endangerment, Hit and Run, and Improper Child Restraint. Kennedy will later be transferred to the St. Tammany Parish Jail.

𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, “𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬-𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.”

The Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) was contacted, and the child has been placed in DCFS custody.