A Glendale couple is facing child abuse charges after police say they spent hours stumbling through 108-degree heat with their two young children following the Arizona Cardinals' open practice at State Farm Stadium last weekend, refusing multiple offers of help along the way. Ryan Mullin and May Mullin were booked into jail on the charges after officers responding to a call near 91st Avenue and Montebello Avenue found them appearing intoxicated, with one of the children reportedly grabbed by the wrist and later dropped during a struggle with police.
According to AZ Family, Glendale police were called to the area around 6 p.m. Sunday after a woman reported that Ryan and May Mullin appeared intoxicated and had stumbled across the road with their two young children for several hours. The witness told officers she offered the family a ride, but they refused. May Mullin later told police the family had been walking for about three hours after leaving the Cardinals' Red and White practice, which was held at State Farm Stadium as the final open fan session of the team's 2026 training camp.
When a Glendale police officer approached Ryan Mullin while he and one child were crossing San Juan Avenue, Mullin crossed the road without the children still with him, per the outlet's report. Officers said they smelled alcohol on both parents, who had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. Ryan Mullin allegedly ignored an officer's command to stop, refused to let go of one of the children, and was ultimately restrained after the officer threatened to use force before he released the child.
Confrontation Escalates Into Fight With Police
The situation reportedly deteriorated further from there. Ryan Mullin fell over one of the children while stumbling, injuring his own face in the process, according to the same account. He also allegedly punched the woman's vehicle and was ultimately booked on three counts of disorderly conduct for fighting, in addition to the child abuse charge. May Mullin possibly vomited while appearing drunk, the outlet reported. Both parents were released on their own recognizance following booking.
Investigators noted that one water bottle found with the family was only halfway full, while the two children had between them consumed two bottles of water during the ordeal — details that speak directly to the extreme conditions the youngsters were exposed to for hours in the open desert heat.
Stadium Warned Fans About Heat Before the Practice
The Cardinals' event guidance for the August 9 practice explicitly warned attendees to take extreme heat precautions, stay hydrated, and bring a factory-sealed water bottle into the stadium, according to the team's own event materials. State Farm Stadium's retractable roof and climate-control system keep the venue's interior air-conditioned during summer events, creating a jarring contrast with the desert heat waiting for fans once they stepped back outside into conditions that reached 108 degrees on the day of the incident.
That contrast underscores why medical experts consider the outdoor exposure so dangerous. The Maricopa County Department of Public Health has warned that young children face heightened heat illness risks because their bodies absorb heat faster than adults and produce less sweat, making prolonged outdoor exposure especially hazardous for toddlers. The county confirmed 602 heat-related deaths during the 2024 summer season, with officials attributing 61% of those deaths directly to extreme temperatures, and health officials confirmed the first heat-related death of the 2026 season back in April, warning that heat illness can strike quickly regardless of a person's age or fitness level.
What Charges Could Mean for the Mullins
Arizona's child abuse statute, A.R.S. § 13-3623, allows prosecutors to charge conduct at multiple felony levels depending on the defendant's mental state at the time. Placing a child in a situation where their health is endangered under circumstances likely to cause serious harm can be charged as a Class 3 felony if done recklessly, or a Class 4 felony if done with criminal negligence, according to the Arizona State Legislature's statutory text. If prosecutors instead argue the conduct was intentional or knowing, it can rise to a Class 2 felony carrying potential prison terms of 3 to 12.5 years for first-time offenders.
Attorneys who handle these cases in Arizona note that the mental-state question is often the crux of how such prosecutions unfold. Defense lawyers in heat-related child endangerment cases frequently argue that a defendant's actions stemmed from acute impairment or misjudgment rather than intentional harm, a distinction the Salwin Law Group notes is central to how these charges get classified. It remains unclear how the Mullins' case will be charged going forward or what role their alleged intoxication will play in that determination.
Beyond the criminal case, standard Arizona protocol requires law enforcement to notify the state's Department of Child Safety whenever adults are arrested on child abuse or endangerment charges, triggering a separate administrative review of the children's welfare and living situation independent of the criminal proceedings. Hoodline has previously covered a Valley child safety case that similarly triggered a DCS review alongside a police investigation.
