Grandma not charged for leaving 10-year-old boy in car

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) -  Willa Crowley, 68, left her grandson alone in her car, was arrested and taken to jail. But now she has learned she will not be charged.

In a summer that's been filled with cases of children left by parents locked in cars, 24-Hour News 8 viewers asked why some face felony charges and others never even have to go to court.

Prosecutors say it gets down to a simple concept, proof.

Ten year old Ricky Smith was sleeping in the backseat of his Grandmother Willa Crowley's car. The car was running, the air conditioner on.

"I felt tapping on my shoulder and it was the police and they asked me if I was ok and I said yes," Smith said. "I saw my granny in handcuffs and I started crying and I asked her what happened."

Someone called 911.Crawley was in the store.

"I didn't even leave the windows rolled down because it was hot. I left the windows up and the air on to make him comfortable," she said.

Willa Crowley was arrested for neglect of a dependent.

"There's a massive distinction between probable cause to make an arrest and proof beyond a reasonable doubt," said Deputy Marion County Prosecutor Kristina Korobov. Korobov says there has to be proof that the child was in "actual or appreciable" danger before charges can be filed.

"Where the child was left. How long the child was left there. The age of the child, particularly in this case, is certainly a factor. How capable is the child of caring for themselves, if a danger were to arise," she said.

That's why in late July in Fishers a mother who left her 4-year-old in the back seat of a 100 degree car to go shopping at Target faces a felony charge, but a woman who left her 4-year-old in her car while she went to a mandatory meeting at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center in June wasn't charged.

And Crowley won't be charged either.

"In this case, we decided there was not enough proof. that there was an actual or appreciable danger to this 10 year old who was left in a car unattended for a period of time," said Korobov.

The deputy prosecutor wants residents to know, a decision not to file charges in this case is not parenting advice. She says children should not be left alone inside a car, period. But she says, if you see a child who is, and you call police, wait for them to arrive and talk with them about what you saw.

She says that's often the difference between proving a case or not.

Crowley was at work and not available for an interview, but left a message for 24-Hour News 8 saying she was very happy charges would not be filed.