THORNTON, Colo. – The woman who pleaded guilty to leaving her young son alone in a car overnight when temperatures dipped below zero was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison.
Nicole Carmon, 28, pleaded guilty in November to felony negligent child abuse causing serious injury and attempted first degree assault.
Carmon left her vehicle in a strip mall parking lot in Thornton during the December 2016 snowstorm, leaving the child frostbitten and with hypothermia. She had initially said she’d gotten a ride after getting into a crash, but had also been drinking.
In addition to the eight years in prison Carmon received, she also will have to serve three years of probation afterward. She faced up to 10 years in prison.
The judge in the case on Thursday called Carmon’s actions “atrocious” and “jaw-dropping” after prosecutors said in court that the boy was close to death when he was found inside Carmon’s vehicle.
She cried during sentencing after apologizing to the court: “I take full responsibility for what I did,” she said. “If my boy weren’t here today, I wouldn’t be either. … I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”