Parents accused of leaving 2-year-old in hot car while shopping at Target in Aventura

AVENTURA, Fla. – A couple is behind bars after police accused them of leaving their 2-year-old son inside a hot car while they shopped at a Target in Aventura over the weekend.

According to an arrest report from the Aventura Police Department, 25-year-old Melvin Alejandro Jaimes and 24-year-old Paola Palencia-Rodriguez are facing one count each of child abuse without great bodily harm and leaving a child under the age of 6 unattended in a vehicle.

Police said Jaimes and Palencia-Rodriguez were shopping at Target, located at 21265 Biscayne Blvd., when a bystander noticed the boy sleeping in the car with the ignition turned off, doors locked, and sitting in his own vomit just after 11 a.m. Saturday.

Authorities said the bystander convinced the 2-year-old to unlock the door, at which point Aventura police arrived at the scene.

The parents admitted to leaving the child in the hot car with the windows up and the ignition off, according to the report. Police said the boy appeared to be “sweaty, warm to the touch, and awake and crying,” but was in good health and not transported to the hospital.

Detectives noted that the temperature at the time was in the low 90s, and there was an active tropical storm and tornado watch in the area.

Police said surveillance video showed the child in the vehicle for 30 minutes from 11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. before he was discovered.

They said the boy was picked up by his grandmother, and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) was notified and will be handling the case.

Investigators confirmed that both parents have no criminal history and were transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Palencia-Rodriguez appeared in bond court Monday morning where Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer found probable cause for the child abuse charges and warned Palencia of the grave consequences she narrowly avoided.

“You are lucky that someone found your 2-year-old sleeping in a hot car,” said Glazer. “You are lucky that you are here and not out there planning a funeral.”

Palencia-Rodriguez, who has been living in South Florida for four months after relocating from Spain, received a plea from her mother, Carmen Rodriguez, who appeared via Zoom during the hearing.

Speaking through a Spanish translator, Rodriguez defended her daughter, stating, “My daughter is a very good mother. She is very caring, and the father is too. I would like you to reconsider your decision regarding the stay-away order because all of us here love this child very much. They are very responsible. It was an honest mistake, and humans make mistakes.”

Glazer granted Palencia-Rodriguez supervised visitation with her child, specifying that the supervisor cannot be the child’s father. The state agreed to the arrangement but prohibited overnight visits.

Glazer set Palencia’s bond at $2,500 and asked her to never leave a child unattended in a car, not even for 30 seconds.

When appearing in bond court and asked about his residency, Jaimes replied, “I’ve been living in the country for four months.” He further stated that he had previously lived in Mexico and Spain.

Glazer granted Jaimes supervised visits with his child and also set his bond at $2,500.