Arizona mom accused of leaving 2-year-old son in home garage with no AC
Mesa police arrest mom accused of child abuse
A Mesa woman is accused of leaving her toddler in a garage without air conditioning, and court documents also reveal the child tested positive for multiple drugs. FOX 10's Andrew Christensen report.
PHOENIX - A Mesa mother is facing child abuse charges, after she allegedly left her 2-year-old son by himself inside a garage with no air conditioning. Investigators say the toddler also had illegal drugs in his system.
What we know:
"Fentanyl, methamphetamine, and THC was discovered in the victim's system after a medical evaluation. The medical evaluation results prompted further investigation by DCS," read a portion of the court documents.
Police said Shellhouse later admitted that "she smokes fentanyl, meth, and marijuana 10+ [times] per day inside her residence with her 2-year-old," and said her son is "obviously exposed when she smokes."
"Multiple illicit metabolites found in his system. The fact that he was left in a garage in this heat in Phoenix Arizona by himself," a judge said during court proceedings.
Dig deeper:
Schellhammer, 32, made her initial court appearance after being charged with felony child abuse and violating a protection order that already banned her from contact with her child.
Amy Shellhammer (Courtesy: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
Mesa Police say this all came to light Aug. 1, when officers responded to Schellhammer’s home for a fatal overdose involving a man inside. When questioned, Schellhammer told police her 2-year-old son was being cared for by a neighbor. But that neighbor revealed a chilling detail—texting police a message from Schellhammer admitting she had left her son in the garage days earlier. That neighbor found the boy and says it took up to 30 minutes just to wake him up.
Local perspective:
Residents in Mesa say with extreme heat, the allegations are even harder to comprehend.
"It’s, like, getting to 115, and it’s just crazy to think that in the garage it’s probably even hotter than that and so that’s just so sad to hear about that," neighbor Brenda said.
What's next:
Per court records, Shellhammer is accused of felony child abuse. She is also accused of a count of failure to comply with a court order, which is a misdemeanor.
A judge has set a $35,000 bond for Shellhammer. Should she make bail, Shellhammer will be subjected to a number of restrictions, including a ban on contacting the victim and other children, and a ban on leaving the state.
Meanwhile, a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from court documents related to this case.