Background: McDonald’s on E. South Street in Raleigh, N.C. (Google Maps). Inset: Nikita Jones (Wake County Bureau of Forensic Services).
A North Carolina mom was arrested after allegedly leaving her six-week-old baby in her car while she worked a shift at McDonald’s.
Nikita Jones, 21, was taken into custody Dec. 2 after police issued two warrants for her arrest on one count of misdemeanor child abuse and one felony count of intentional child abuse causing serious physical injury. According to WRAL, a local NBC affiliate, the arrest warrants alleged that not only did Jones leave her newborn baby unrestrained in her car — where police say the temperature was only 40 degrees — she also apparently struck the baby in the face, leaving visible bruising around her eyes.
Police said that Jones left her baby in the car on Nov. 21 and turned the car off when she went inside the McDonald’s restaurant in Raleigh to start her shift. The warrants stated that the incident in which Jones struck her baby took place the day before, on Nov. 20, and that the girl had bruising, swelling, and scratches on her face.
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Details about the baby’s current condition were not available, and it is unknown how long she was in the car before she was found.
Jones was jailed and held on a $50,000 secured bond for the felony and $5,000 for the misdemeanor, according to court records obtained by WNCN, a local CBS affiliate. Her next court date is Dec. 10, when she will be arraigned for the felony charge. She will appear in court again on Dec. 19 for the misdemeanor.
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