MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee woman was charged with one count of neglecting a child after she left her toddler in a hot car while she fished and was drinking at a nearby park according to a criminal complaint.
Jessica Jorgensen, 24, was ultimately found at Grobschmidt Park where she was fishing with another person and a cooler full of rum and Diet Coke.
Franklin police were called to the 6400 block of S 35th Street just after 5:30 a.m. after a witness heard crying and saw the child locked in the hot car.
Officers were able to unlock the car and found the child "flushed, sweaty and alert" according to the complaint. One officer noticed a purse in the car that belonged to Jessica Jorgensen, the child's mother, as well as "six empty Smirnoff bottles and an open bottle of a blue alcoholic beverage in the door pocket."
According to police, Jorgensen left her child in the car because, "it was too early to wake her up," and, "she did not think leaving her in the car for 20-30 minutes would be a big deal."
Jorgensen took a breathalyzer at the scene and her blood alcohol content of .142. If convicted, Jorgensen could face up to three and a half years of prison or a $10,000 fine.
