Springfield woman accused of leaving boy in hot car for an hour

A Springfield woman has been accused of leaving a 4-year-old boy in a hot car at an apartment complex for more than an hour.

Courtney R. Lavender, 22, 832 W. Pleasant St., has been charged with child endangering, according to a police report.

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The Springfield Police Division received a call that a boy was inside a car with the windows up and the doors locked at the Cole Manor apartment complex, 315 S. Burnett Road, about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The temperature was about 82 degrees at that time, the report says.

A woman passed the car when the boy opened the door and asked if she knew “where his mommy was,” the report says. The boy wouldn’t give her his mother’s name but said “she was inside at his mamaw’s house.” A bank card and her purse were also in the vehicle.

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A woman familiar with the boy identified him and his mother as Lavender. She was able to get the boy out of the car and said both his grandmother and stepfather live at the apartment complex.

The child’s stepfather said he didn’t know the boy was at the complex or how he got there, police said. The stepfather and other relatives reached Lavender by phone, according to court records, and she allegedly told relatives she thought the boy was with her sister.

Lavender arrived at the complex about 8:20 p.m. and allegedly told police she didn’t remember anything and gave no explanation for her son being left in the car for nearly an hour, the report says. She was arrested and placed in the Clark County Jail.

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