A Knoxville couple has been charged with child abuse after leaving their two young children in a hot car while they went shopping. Mariana Castro, 30, and Jose Llovera, 38, are facing repercussions following the incident on Monday evening at a Target store on Clinton Highway, as WVLT reported. The couple allegedly left a one-year-old and a nine-year-old in a vehicle that was "not running with its windows cracked while it was 84 degrees outside," according to court records.
Upon being flagged down, a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper found the children "sweating profusely, had red cheeks and were hot to the touch," as per the arrest warrants detailed by WBIR. The trooper managed quickly to ask the older child to open the car door to provide aid. Castro, upon arrival, initially claimed she left the children because the youngest was sick and asleep, but later retracted her statement.
Law enforcement reviewed surveillance footage from the store and found that both adults had entered the store at approximately 5:52 p.m., leaving the children unattended in the car. As a result, both children were taken into Department of Children's Services' custody. Castro and Llovera are each charged with two counts of felony child abuse/neglect/endangerment, with Castro facing an additional charge of false reports.
Both "Castro and Llovera were taken into custody," according to the Knox County Court records obtained by WATE. The couple is expected to appear in court today.
