A one-month-old infant boy wearing only a diaper was discovered alone on a Colorado street on Christmas Day, and his parents are now in jail.
A bystander observed the baby alone in his car seat around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday and stopped to help, according to a Facebook post from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. AccuWeather reported a high of 50 degrees and a low of 34 degrees in Denver on Wednesday.
Sgt. Adam Sherman of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office told USA TODAY on Thursday that it is unclear how long the baby was there, but based on what detectives could collect, “it was a relatively short time of just a few minutes.”
“But that’s a few minutes too long for any child to be left alone in that situation,” Sherman told the audience.
After the infant was discovered, he was transferred to a local children’s hospital as a precaution, while detectives searched the neighborhood, examined camera footage, and attempted to determine who put the baby there.
Authorities also released photographs of the car seat on social media, requesting the public’s assistance in identifying the infant and his family “so he can be reunited with his loved ones and the person who abandoned him can be brought to justice.”
Baby’s parents were arrested.
The infant’s biological parents were later identified, arrested, and charged with felony child abuse on the same day, according to authorities. They were identified as Jarvis Sims (42), and Christina Thurman (33).
Sherman said the two had a court appearance Thursday morning and were still in sheriff’s custody by Thursday afternoon. There was no attorney named for them in online court records Thursday.
“From what our investigators could gather is there was an argument yesterday morning between both parents,” according to Sherman. “And as they were walking during the argument, unfortunately, the baby was left in the street as each parent left in a different direction.”
Infant in ‘excellent health’
Sherman said the baby is in good health and was “cleared to be placed with child protective services last night.”
“Thank you to our community who quickly sprang into action, spread the word, and assisted with sharing the information about this incident,” according to the sheriff’s office.