Grandma talks after leaving kid in car

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Ten-year-old Recarrius Smith said his head was hurting and he was tired. He was exhausted after a long day of school.

He asked his grandmother, Willa Crawley, if he could stay in the car while she stopped at Shopper's World to purchase school uniforms for her other grandson. Grandma said sure, but twenty minutes later she was under arrest for neglect of a dependent after someone called police and reported a child sleeping in the back seat of a car in the Lafayette Square Mall parking lot.

The 10-year-old, who woke to police tapping on his shoulder, blamed himself for what happened.

"I saw my granny in handcuffs and I started crying," Smith said.

But no one is blaming the child. Crawley said she thought she took the proper precautions to keep her grandson safe.

"This is not a baby! I could see if he was a three-year-old," she said. "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."

Crawley appears before a judge Friday morning at 8:30. Scratches from the handcuffs are still visible on her wrist. She is hoping the charges against her will be dismissed.

Indiana law doesn't spell out what age is okay to leave your child in the car alone. In fact, when deciding whether or not to leave your child home alone is up to the parent's discretion. Because Indiana state law doesn't have an age requirement, parents like Crawley have e-mailed 24-Hour News 8 asking how law enforcement determines when a parent is charged with neglect.

We still don't have clear answer.

But because the law is so vague, Officer Michael Hewitt with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department suggested playing it safe.

"If your child is not old enough to be driving that car, I wouldn't leave my kids in a car unattended for any amount of time," Hewitt said.