Mother Kelsey McMurtry accused of 'abandoning toddler' inside hot car for strip club audition

'There is no time that is an acceptable time for a child to be left alone in a car. It's as simple as that'

Kelsey McMurtry, 24, left and Summer Taylor, 19, right (Metro Nashville Police Department)

By the time police removed the toddler from the car, she was “drenched in sweat” in her heavy coat.

Outside the Pontiac PT Cruiser, the temperature was a breezy 70 degrees, police estimated, but inside the vehicle the temperature had soared past 100 degrees.

Thirty minutes had allegedly passed since Kelsey McMurtry had left her 9-month-old daughter in the parking lot of a strip club in downtown Nashville on Thursday, according to ABC-affiliate WSB-TV.

A passerby had spotted the child and alerted police, the station reported.

The doors were locked and the windows rolled up, it is claimed.

McMurtry was at Deja Vu Showgirls for an audition, police told NBC affiliate WSMV.

She had a friend inside the club, 19-year-old Summer Taylor, who was supposed to be keeping an eye on her child. Taylor reportedly told police that she had been checking on the little girl.

McMurtry and Taylor are facing charges of child neglect, the station reported. McMurtry has also been charged with criminal impersonation for lying to police about her identity.

The baby was rushed to a hospital and later placed with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, according to WSMV.

Purnima Unni, the pediatric trauma injury prevention manager at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, told WSMV that the consequences of leaving children unattended in hot cars can be severe.

“There is no time that is an acceptable time for a child to be left alone in a car,” Unni said. “It’s as simple as that.”

“The child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster and higher than an adult,” she added. “So 104 degrees, you find the internal organs of the child begin to shut down. And when it’s 107 degrees, we can see near-death.”