2 other children taken from mother who left child in vehicle

EL CENTRO — Two additional children have been removed by Child Protective Services from a woman who reportedly left her 2-year-old child locked inside of a parked vehicle at Ross Dress for Less on North Imperial Avenue on Thursday afternoon. Cecilia Zamora, a 27-year-old El Centro resident, was taken into custody at 12:57 p.m. Thursday at the store by El Centro police officers and booked into county jail on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, county Sheriff’s Office arrest records stated. Zamora was held on a $100,000 bail for the alleged offense and released at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

On the day of Zamora’s arrest, CPS was requested to conduct a welfare check at a residence. Two other children, reported to be Zamora’s, were found there and removed, according to police logs. Ages of the children were not specified, and no other details have been released.

At approximately 12:21 p.m. Thursday, El Centro Fire Department was dispatched to the Ross store’s parking lot and found Zamora’s 2-year-old child in a 2010 Buick SUV, which was not running. It was locked, and the windows were closed.

Fire personnel immediately broke out a window to rescue the child, who was found in the back seat unresponsive.

The child was immediately treated for heat exhaustion and, within minutes, the child soon became responsive.

Gold Cross Ambulance transported the child to El Centro Regional Medical Center, El Centro Fire Department Battalion Chief Raul Ojeda stated.

“Last we were informed, the child was recovering well,” El Centro Police Department Cmdr. Alvaro Ramirez said Friday afternoon. The ambient temperature at the time was 102 degrees, and the temperature inside the vehicle was estimated to be over 140 degrees.

The child was not buckled into a car seat at the time and the keys were not inside the vehicle, Cmdr. Ramirez stated.

El Centro police officers eventually located the child’s mother at 12:36 p.m. Thursday at the store and later arrested her.

“The exact timeline of how long the mother was away from the car is unknown,” Ramirez said.

The ECPD commander added the department does not have a confirmed time on how long the child was inside the vehicle.

A CPS worker was requested at ECRMC once the 2-year-old arrived to the hospital. The child was then turned over to CPS, ECPD call logs stated.