Florida cops say 3-year-old was left in hot car while her mom donated plasma — bystanders thought child was dead

Florida police said a 27-year-old woman left a 3-year-old child in a hot car for several hours while she donated blood at a plasma center on Sunday afternoon.

The woman found the girl unresponsive when she came back to the car and frantically called police for help at about 4:32 p.m., according to a Facebook post from the DeLand Police Department.

'I started to cry because I didn't think I was going to be able to get her back.'

While police raced to the business park on New York Avenue, bystanders tried to help the girl, and one was giving her CPR when emergency responders arrived.

The girl was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

An investigation by the DeLand Police Dept. determined that Latana Williams left the child unattended for about two hours on a day when the outside temperature had reached 84 degrees.

The girl was treated for symptoms consistent with heat exhaustion, according to the arrest report.

Police said Williams told them that the air conditioning was left running in the car and that she was monitoring the child through FaceTime on a tablet. However, police said they believed the car had been left with the ignition off.

One bystander named Marc Tait recorded Williams after she found her daughter and said he thought he was watching a child die.

Rosemary Roile told WESH-TV she was the person who gave the child CPR. She recalled becoming emotional after the child regained consciousness.

"I started to cry because I didn't think I was going to be able to get her back," Roile said.

Police arrested Williams on Sunday, and she was charged with child neglect, a first-degree felony. She denied any wrongdoing.

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"Please take this as a reminder to always check your back seats," said Captain Prurince Dice, one of the officers who responded to the scene.

"Give yourself enough time when you're traveling so you're not in a rush when you arrive at your destination," he added.

Police said Monday that the child would likely recover but did not offer specifics about her condition.

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