shanesha Taylor walked out of a job interview on March 20 at a Scottsdale, Arizona, insurance company feeling like her luck was about to change.

After months of fruitless job searching and moving her three children from one home to another, she was optimistic that she had found not just a job, but a career that would ground her family. The interview went well, lasting longer than expected. The 35-year-old single mother felt like she had the job "in the bag."

All that changed in an instant as she walked out to the parking lot and saw police around her Dodge Durango, where she had left her two sons during her hourlong job interview. A woman on her lunch break had called 911 after hearing a child crying in the hot car.

"I felt lost at that moment, like everything I had built myself up for, everything I was trying to do, had fallen apart," she said. "It went from how am I going to provide for my family to what's going to happen to my family?"

She was arrested on the spot and held in jail for 10 days on two counts of felony child abuse, losing custody of her three children. Her tear-stained face in a mugshot struck a chord among sympathizers nationwide, who thought the actions against her were unjustified given the circumstances.

Supporters coalesced on social media, starting a fundraising campaign to cover her $9,000 bail. It raised more than $110,000 over two months. An online petition asking Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery to dismiss the charges drew more than 58,000 signatures. At one point #isupportshanesha was a trending topic on Twitter.

To many she represented the plight of single and underemployed parents who face tough decisions each day related to child care. Others saw it as evidence that the criminal justice system metes out harsher penalties to African-Americans than other racial groups.

"There's a racial component in this case that can't be ignored," said social justice activist Mariame Kaba, who started the online petition. She also contributed to efforts to keep the case in the public eye through social media and her blog, Prison Culture.

Montgomery said he was unmoved by the public outcry. But further discussion with Taylor's lawyer led to an outcome with which both sides say they are satisfied.

Montgomery agreed to dismiss child abuse charges against Taylor if she successfully completes 25 hours of parenting classes and establishes education and child care trust fund accounts for her children. She also has to complete a substance abuse treatment program -- a standard provision in these types of cases to ensure the children's safety, a county attorney spokesperson said -- even though she has no drug-related criminal record.

pickabeau1:
OK


So what's the point of this tale


OP

podosci:

Did you read the post?...does it have to be about wizkid or jayz before you understand the wordings?...Children of this generation

Yields:
Even though she didn't anticipate the interview would last that long, she could've found an alternative place for the kids. No excuses. Those kids could have died of heatstroke! Many parents lose their kids every summer by doing what she did and they get prosecuted. If the passerby hadn't called the the police after hearing a child cry, they would still be in the hot car and who knows what could've happened? [/b]I'm glad the charges were dismissed because she wasn't deliberately trying to cause harm (although she could have), but I sure hope she has learned her lesson. The conditions she has to meet (25 hours of parenting classes, [b]trust funds for her kids and substance abuse treatment program) will only help her and her kids in the future.

Yields:
Even though she didn't anticipate the interview would last that long, she could've found an alternative place for the kids. No excuses. Those kids could have died of heatstroke! Many parents lose their kids every summer by doing what she did and they get prosecuted. If the passerby hadn't called the the police after hearing a child cry, they would still be in the hot car and who knows what could've happened? I'm glad the charges were dismissed because she wasn't deliberately trying to cause harm (although she could have), but I sure hope she has learned her lesson. The conditions she has to meet (25 hours of parenting classes, trust funds for her kids and substance abuse treatment program) will only help her and her kids in the future.

smartmom:


Note that she was already coming out when the police were called so they couldnt have died of heat stroke. She was known to have no history of substance abuse so how would the treatment be of use to herself and kids? And trust fund for the kids with what funds after being jobless for so long?

Mondisweets:
if u had the money to leave them at a day care maybe u could have helped hey

Yields:
Curt, aren't we? If I knew her personally and she contacted me for help, best believe I would have. She shouldn't have left those kids in there, simple. If you have a problem with my opinion, that's too bad.

Mondisweets:
never said i had a problem with it, its just that its always easier for people to bring up a million "solutions" to other people's problems when they aren't in the position to help. How sure are u that she had someone to leave her kids with? How sure are u that she could have afforded to pay someone to watch her children? And im sure here we werent talking about paying someone N500

Yields:
You are the one stating solutions; I simply said there were "alternatives" but since you explicitly mentioned some of these solutions, I believe she could've looked into them. She had a car and money for gas (or how is she getting around without gas?), so she probably could've dished out a little bit for someone to watch those kids. Many employers are reasonable and maybe she could've taken them along and they would've allowed them to stay in another room while the interview is being conducted. I mean, God forbid, but had anything bad happen, she herself would be looking back in hindsight and examining the I-should-haves; at the alternatives she could've chosen other than leaving them in the hot car. I'm glad she went to look for a job to better her and her children's life, but that simple mistake could've costed her a lifetime of pain and she likely would be too devastated to work the job she went to interview for.

Just this afternoon (this is a true story), a Pakistani woman was talking loudly on the phone next to me. I looked at her direction but I guess I was not giving her the nicest look (she was really loud), so she came to apologize a few minutes later when she got off. I thought it was sweet b/c she didn't have to! I asked her if everything was okay and she said "No". Her husband left 12 grand, that is, $12,000, in the pocket of his jacket - on the seat in his car; went into a Mosque to pray, came back to find the jacket but not the money. This just happened like 3 hours ago. She started hitting her forehead with her palm, got on the phone again and started yelling again in her language.

So my point is, anything could've happened to those kids. I'm not calling her a bad mother; never did, but it was a careless mistake that could've costed her a whole lot.

Mondisweets:
that pakistani woman acted out of anger and this woman acted out of desparation.

This is a candidate not someone who is already employed. I wonder how many people that would be willing to leave their work for a couple of minutes to watch over a stranger's during working hours in the course of their employment.

Im pretty sure u can get gas for at least $3.50 a gallon, how many babysitters can u get at that price?

Yields:
Sigh. No one's talking about whether one acted out of anger or desperation. The bigger picture in the story I just shared and the artlcle's is as follows: Don't leave anything of value in a car - whether a little human being, money or anything else you consider important, or you may lose him/her/it. My biggest concern, of course, is the irreplaceable life of the human being. That was my purpose in sharing the story. I did not state whether the Pakistani woman had a job or not; she only told me about what happened to her husband. You keep going on about minute things. My opinion still stands. She shouldn't have left them in the car but I hope she has learned her lesson. Case closed.

Mondisweets:


Neither will those children feed on candy in the sky, or sleep in a house thats rent free

Yields:
So it makes sense to leave them in the hot car? There goes the extent of your {non-existent} argument.

Mondisweets:
she already said she assumed she wasn't taking long. Anyway she has already been awarded over $110,00 by people who supported my non-existent argument/ point of view guess its much more sensible to assume that a person who can afford $3.50 a gallon should automatically be able to afford a babysitter and thats what u assume is a valid argument?