Police: Boy Left in Car, Mom Mellisa Thornton Not at Fault

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - Police say they are dropping charges against a Delta Air Lines employee after her 6-year-old son was left alone in a parked car for several hours on Friday moing while she was at work. Police now say an aunt is instead responsible for leaving the boy alone in the car.

College Park police say the boy’s mother, Mellisa Dianne Thoton, 32, of Union City, didn’t know the boy was asleep in the backseat of the car when she parked and went to work at Hartsfield-Jackson Inteational Airport. Investigators say a pilot saw the boy in a car in the employee parking lot on Northwest Drive just before noon on Friday and called police. They say the boy was hot and thirsty, but was otherwise healthy.

Police took the boy to the police station until his family members were found. They believe the boy was in the car alone for about four hours.

Investigators said they were letting Thoton go after leaing she was not responsible for the incident. Instead, they say the woman’s aunt is to blame. According to police, the two women share a car, and 48-year-old LaWanda O’Bannon ran out of time to drop the boy off at his daycare center. Police say in her haste, she forgot to share that information with Thoton.

O’Bannon is now charged with second-degree child cruelty. Police say O’Bannon is an attoey for the Fulton County Public Defender’s Office.