A Florida mother has been arrested in the death of her 11-month-old baby, who was left alone in a hot car for three hours while she officiated a church service.
Bulaine Molme, 37, was booked late Thursday into the Brevard County jail on a felony count of manslaughter of a child.
Her arrest came four days after police were called to Mount of Olives Evangelical Church in Palm Bay, which is run by Molme and her pastor husband, for reports of an unresponsive infant.
First responders learned that the baby had been left in her mother’s car for about three hours while Molme and other family members attended Sunday service at the church, ClickOrlando reported.
Detectives determined that Molme had arrived late to the service, which she was set to officiate, and told cops she believed her daughter was brought inside by a member of the congregation.
It was not until the service was over that the mom realized that her baby was not in the building.
Molme then immediately headed to her car and found her 11-month-old still strapped into her car seat and unresponsive.
CPR was performed on the baby before she was taken to Palm Bay Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The high temperature in Palm Bay was 81 degrees that day.
The temperature inside a car can reach a scorching 105 degrees when the outside temperature is only 75 degrees, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s, and heatstroke sets in when the core body temperature rises to 104 degrees.
Molme was released from jail Friday after posting a $15,000 bond.
Molme and her husband, Pastor Jnmarc Molme, both originally from Haiti, started the Mount of Olives Church in September 2018, according to the Florida Baptist Convention. They have three older children.
