Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On July 16, 2021, at about 4:57 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a business the 1700 block of Myrtle Avenue, in the county’s jurisdiction of Eureka, for the report of an infant left inside of a vehicle unattended.

According to the reporting party, the infant had been found alone in the vehicle with the doors locked and the windows rolled up. Deputies arrived on scene and contacted the reporting party, who had gained access to the vehicle and was attending to the infant. Deputies also located the mother of the infant nearby, 25-year-old Jasmine Sadie-Aileen Sheets.

During their investigation, deputies learned that Sheets had left the infant in the vehicle and entered the business to consume alcohol. The infant was left unattended in the vehicle for approximately 1-2 hours.

Sheets was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of child endangerment likely to produce great bodily harm or death (PC 273a(a)).

The infant was placed into safe custody.

Under California Vehicle Code Section 15620, it is illegal to leave a child under six years old in a vehicle without proper supervision where there are conditions that present a significant risk to the child’s health or safety. Children should never be left unattended or be able to get inside a vehicle.

Even on mild or cloudy days, temperatures inside vehicles can reach life-threatening levels. On a 70-degree day, the inside of a parked vehicle can reach up to 113 degrees in just one hour. Rolling down a window does little to keep it cool. Heatstroke fatalities have occurred even in vehicles parked in shaded areas and can occur in temperatures as low as 57 degrees.

This case is still under investigation. Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.