ST. CHARLES COUNTY 鈥 Two St. Louis County women are accused of locking three disabled elderly people in a vehicle in the sweltering heat on Thursday while they went shopping.
Prosecutors announced Friday that Niyah Brown, 22, of Black Jack, and Alexis Daggs, 29, of Florissant, each face three counts of elder abuse, a misdemeanor. Court documents do not detail why the women had the three passengers in the van, though authorities said they were caregivers.
Police received a 911 call from a shopper who noticed a van in the parking lot with three people inside with various disabilities. The van鈥檚 engine was off, the doors were locked and the windows were closed. The passengers were 鈥渟weating profusely,鈥 and 鈥渨ere unable to communicate verbally due to their diminished mental capacity, leaving them incapable of exiting the vehicle or calling for help,鈥 according to police.
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The caller said they went to a nearby store and asked employees to use the intercom system to find the van鈥檚 owner. After several minutes, a few customers returned to the parked van and noticed that the doors were now unlocked.
鈥(The 911 caller) opened the doors to allow air to circulate and called 911,鈥 St. Peters police wrote in court documents. When officers arrived at the scene, they registered that the temperature outside of the van was 96 degrees.
Brown and Daggs eventually returned to the van and told officers they were responsible for the passengers inside. They told police they 鈥渓eft the vehicle running while they entered a few stores鈥 and were only gone 15 minutes. Police later determined that Brown and Daggs had left the three passengers in the van for approximately 40 minutes.
According to a San Francisco State University , temperatures inside the van were likely close to 130 degrees.
All three of the passengers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of their heat-related injuries.
Both Brown and Daggs are in custody at the St. Charles County Jail. Cash-only bonds of $50,000 have been set for both of the women. Hearing dates have not been scheduled in either case.