NEW BERN — A Beaufort County mother is facing misdemeanor child abuse after leaving her 6-month-old son in a car while visiting a store over the weekend.

Kayla Perez De Jesus left the back windows rolled up with her baby in the car when she visited the Handy Mart at 2020 N.C. Highway 17 North in New Bern on Saturday evening, according to Craven County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Mike Sawyer.

Sawyer said an off-duty investigator noticed the child in the rear passenger seat, buckled in a car seat, crying and sweating. Perez De Jesus had two other children with her inside the store.

Perez De Jesus was arrested in Beaufort County and placed under a $1,000 unsecured bond. Sawyer said she was charged with a misdemeanor because the incident didn’t meet the state’s requirements for a felony charge.

“In order to be a felony in the state of North Carolina, it has to be serious injury,” Sawyer said. “There was no serious injury to the child. She just left him in a position where he could potentially be injured.”

The Beaufort County Department of Social Services is also investigating this case, Sawyer said.

According to a warning from the Washington Police Department, the temperature inside a parked car can rise about 20 degrees every ten minutes. High temperatures can cause heatstroke, which can lead to collapse, brain damage and possible death. According to safercar.gov, a Parents Central website that offers information on risks and consequences of leaving children in a parked vehicle, a child’s body temperature can rise up to five times faster than an adult’s. It also states a child dies when his or her temperature reaches 107 degrees.

The WPD warning also urges residents to contact the police anytime child or animal is seen in a vehicle even if the windows are cracked.

To report an incident of neglect or abuse, call the Washington Police Department at 252-946-1444.