Colorado parents charged with lesser misdemeanors after allegedly abandoning child in car seat on Christmas
The Denver-area parents accused of abandoning their 6-week-old baby in a car seat, wearing only a diaper on Christmas, have been formally charged by the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office on Monday.
Christina Thurman, 33, and Jarvis Sims, 42, have been charged with child abuse without injury and reckless endangerment; both misdemeanors. Sims was also charged with violating a protection order, also a misdemeanor. Investigators had initially recommended charges of misdemeanor child abuse and felony child abuse.
Sims is accused of leaving the baby in a car seat on the median on Pecos Street just north of U.S. Highway 36 in Adams County on Dec. 25 and investigators say Thurman then left the area after witnessing Sims leave the baby there. After the baby was turned over to Adams County Child Protective Services and taken to the hospital, he tested presumptive positive for having cocaine in his system.
In court last week, Adams County Judge Jacque Lyn Russell called Thurman a "danger to your son -- both physical and emotional danger to your son."
Bond was initially set at $50,000 for the pair and Thurman posted bond the following day. Sims' bond has since been reduced to $2,500 but appears to still be in the Adams County Detention Facility, according to court and jail records.
Both are due back in court on Feb. 7, 2025.
The incident stems from an argument between Sims and Thurman over the alleged intoxication levels of Thurman on the morning of Dec. 25, one deputy wrote in an arrest report.
A witness turned the baby over to her sister, who then called police, according to that report. It's still not clear how investigators identified the baby or his parents, but a deputy says in his report that Sims admitted to bringing the baby to that median and going back home to get some sleep before work.
He and Thurman were arrested that day.
Colorado's safe haven law, which allows parents to safely surrender their baby if they're 3 days old or younger, would not have applied in this case. The law allows parents in crisis to leave newborns at fire stations or hospitals within 72 hours, no questions asked. The nonprofit organization Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns says 87 infants have been safely surrendered under the program since the law went into effect in 2000. In 2019, schools in Colorado teaching sex education started including information about the state's safe haven law.
The story made national and even international headlines and prompted the Colorado Department of Human Services to remind people that help is available if parents need it and options for reporting instances of child abuse or alleged child abuse.
The department recommends anyone who finds out about any abuse of a child call the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-844-CO-4-KIDS or 1-844-264-5437.
