Mother charged in hot car death allowed to take her other children trick-or-treating

A mother accused of leaving her toddler in a hot car, where he died, will be allowed to take her two other children trick-or-treating.

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On Thursday morning, a Gwinnett County judge ruled that Deja Coleman can visit all four buildings at Rainbow Village, where she’s living under house arrest with GPS monitoring.

The judge previously ruled Coleman was entitled to bond and was not a danger to her children.

Back in July, Lawrenceville police said Coleman, 29, dropped her two older children off at daycare and forgot to make a second trip back to the car to bring the baby inside. She then drove to the hospital, where she worked, and parked in the employee lot before starting her shift around 6:55 a.m.

A hospital employee walking to her car around 3:50 p.m. noticed the boy slumped in his car seat and called 911, according to police. Officers working off duty at the hospital broke the vehicle’s window and pulled him out, but he was already dead.

Investigators say the temperature inside the car still read 117 degrees an hour after the window was broken.

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Coleman’s 6-year-old has special needs, and she told police mornings usually followed a set pattern.

“Her normal routine is to take the older kids into daycare, come back and retrieve the baby out of the car seat,” Cpt. Dena Pauly told Channel 2 Action News. “And unfortunately, yesterday morning, she forgot to make that second trip to the car.”

Detectives with Lawrenceville police believe Coleman was not distracted, just overwhelmed. Pauly says officers saw that firsthand once Coleman learned what happened.

“She was devastated,” Pauly said.

Coleman has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children.

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