Apr 28, 2008 10:25 pm US/Pacific
Mom Accused Of Child Endangerment Speaks To CBS13
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
The mother accused of leaving her toddler in a hot car while she went shopping spoke with CBS13 about the incident on Monday.
"He means everything to me," Mauriel Mercado said. "There is nothing that could replace him and I love him a lot."
Mercado admits she made a mistake when she left her three-year old son alone in a hot car in the Arden Fair Mall parking lot, but she wanted to explain why.
"It was a mistake. We were running errands," she said. She and her friend Derek Garcia headed to Arden Fair Mall in his car, which can be seen in the surveillance video.
They went into the mall, and a customer reported a boy all alone in the car, crying. Mall security says the child was left in the car for 30 minutes.
"The doors were closed, the windows were closed, but the car was unlocked," said Steve Reed, from the Arden Fair Mall.
Mercado says only part of that is true. She says the windows were up, but the sunroof was open and the doors locked.
However, she doesn't excuse her behavior.
"It was a mistake, everybody makes mistakes," she said. "It's not right to make that mistake but I love him. Don't judge me off of what you guys see on TV."
Mercado is working to get her son back, who is now in the care of Child Protective Services. Both Mercado and her friend Garcia face child endangerment charges.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments