Atwater mom sentenced for leaving baby in hot car

An Atwater mother who pleaded no contest earlier this year to child endangerment for leaving her infant in a hot car was sentenced Friday in Merced Superior Court.

Amanda R. Sagmiller was convicted in separate and unrelated cases Friday by Judge Ronald W. Hansen. Sagmiller, 26, had been charged with leaving her 3-month-old son in a hot car in August. Also, she had pleaded no contest in an unrelated felony case for embezzling several hundred dollars from Walmart, where she was employed between July 11, 2013, and Sept. 3, 2013, according to court records.

Sagmiller received a six-month jail sentence in the embezzlement case and was given credit for time served in jail. She was ordered to serve four years of probation in the child endangerment case. Sagmiller also agreed to complete a 52-week parenting class, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.

She was ordered to report to the Merced County jail on Dec. 3.

Monika Saini, the prosecuting deputy district attorney, said the judge considered the fact that Sagmiller took responsibility early on in the case and has taken many “proactive steps” to rectify the situation and reunite with her son.

Sagmiller pleaded no contest Sept. 15. The case was settled without any plea agreement from prosecutors.

“We’re obviously very glad the child is safe and that citizens stepped up to help and the police responded quickly, preventing a larger tragedy,” Saini said. “Hopefully this serves as an important lesson to all parents in the community.”

Sagmiller left the child around 4 p.m. Aug. 5 in a locked 1999 Dodge Caravan parked outside a grocery store in the 2800 block of Shaffer Road, the Atwater Police Department reported.

Weather records show the temperature in Atwater climbed above 90 degrees around 4 p.m. Aug. 5. Authorities said the infant was left unattended for about 30 minutes.

Officers described the child as “extremely lethargic, soaked with perspiration and slow in responding” when he was pulled from the vehicle and rushed to the hospital. Police said the child was expected to make a full recovery. He was released to his father’s care. Merced County Child Welfare Services was involved in the investigation.

Sagmiller’s attorney, Merced County Deputy Public Defender Chris Loethen, said his client has been “extremely remorseful” and said numerous letters to the court from her friends and family describe her as a good mother of two children who had a brief lapse in judgment.

“Ultimately she’s guilty of being a negligent parent for 26 minutes,” Loethen said. “I think this was an important wake-up call for her, but she has done absolutely everything authorities have asked her to do since her arrest.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2014 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Atwater mom sentenced for leaving baby in hot car."