TUCKER, Ga. -- A local woman has been indicted for allegedly leaving her child in her car for 5 hours as she visited a DeKalb hair salon.
Jurors returned a three-count indictment on Tuesday against 25-year-old Dijanelle Fowler on charges of murder in the second degree, cruelty to children in the second degree and concealing the death of another.
Investigators believe Fowler left her 13-month-old child, Skylar, buckled in her car seat while she visited a hair salon on Lavista Road in Tucker, Georgia. Police said Fowler left the car and air conditioning running before she went inside. But when she came out hours later, it became clear that the car had shut off.
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She then got help to jumpstart her car, allegedly concealing her daughter from the Good Samaritan's view, and drove to the parking lot of Emory University Hospital. That's where Fowler called 911 claiming she had suffered a seizure and was taken to the hospital.
Sadly, Skylar was already dead when emergency crews arrived, the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office said.
An investigation led to arrest warrants being issued against Fowler on July 6. Authorities said Fowler fled the state after being released from the hospital but later turned herself in. She has been jailed without bond ever since.
The case will be prosecuted by the district attorney's Sexual Exploitation and Crimes Against Children (SECAC) Unit. The trial date has not been set.
