A Florida babysitter allegedly forgot about a 3-month-old baby in the parking lot and left the infant in the brutal heat. Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri said 46-year-old Wendy Kirk left the infant in a car seat on the hot asphalt in the middle of the afternoon on July 17, 2025. Kirk reportedly cared for several children and somehow misplaced the baby. The family chose not to press charges, but police disagreed.
Capri addressed the media in a news conference and explained that witnesses contacted police around 4 p.m. after finding the baby alone in the parking lot. Kirk reportedly dropped several children off at a business around 3:30 and returned to pick them up 30 minutes later. At that time, she allegedly placed the baby on the ground inside an infant seat and pulled away. Court documents obtained by Fox 4 note Kirk told police that as soon as she realized she didn’t have the baby, she returned to the scene.
Police body cam footage shows an emotional Kirk prior to her arrest.
“You got to be (responsible). Know where your kids are at all times,” Capri said during the news conference. “This could have been a very, very tragic outcome. But thank God it wasn’t.”
The infant’s father told police he wanted to let it go, but Capri asserted, “We felt it was important enough to press charges.”
Capri said although Kirk admitted she made a “mistake,” sometimes, that’s not enough. Per police, the temperature was 96 degrees and the baby was reportedly alone for between 30 and 35 minutes.
“By the grace of God, thank God, the child was OK,” the police chief said. “Not only to have to deal with the heat, but what if somebody accidentally didn’t see the child in a vehicle and maybe ran over that child? Thank God that didn’t happen.”
A medical evaluation showed the infant had no signs of injury or illness.
Police arrested Kirk on a child neglect charge. She bonded out of jail and will appear in court in August, Fox 4 reported.
The news station also stated that the Florida Department of Children and Families has launched a separate investigation.
