Maryland Woman Faces Neglect Charge After Pastor Finds Baby In Road

Authorities say the mother of a 6-week-old old baby girl left her daughter on the side of the road in Pasadena, Maryland, on July 4.

Sandra McClary, 26, faces child neglect and reckless endangerment charges after her blue-eyed baby girl, whose name has not been released, was discovered by a local pastor around 11:30 on Saturday night.

Bishop Raymond Showell told the Capital Gazette that he and his wife were driving home from his church when they spotted something in the road.

"I was working on my sermon and coming home from my church and as I was coming down Druid Hill Avenue, I saw a package or something,” Showell, a pastor at Gethsemane Church of God, said. "I'm just glad the Lord allowed me to come by and nothing dangerous happened to the child."

The baby girl was found buckled into an infant car seat and appeared to be unharmed. Police told WJLA that scuff marks on the carrier and other debris indicated that the car seat may have fallen off a moving vehicle. Spilled baby formula and a diaper bag were strewn along the road nearby, according to WJLA.

Anne Arundel County Police posted a photo of the baby on social media in an effort to locate her parents.

The Capital Gazette reports that McClary contacted police Sunday morning and said that the baby's father was supposed to be watching the child. Cops determined that McClary was the baby's mother, and told the outlet that they arrested her after their investigation revealed she was the one who left the baby on the side of the road. She is being held on $500,000 bail.

“We were inundated with requests to adopt this child [Sunday],” Anne Arundel County Police Lieutenant T.J. Smith told WTOP. "It just makes your stomach turn to think that this child was left out underneath fireworks and gunfire on July 4th."

The baby is now in the care of Child Protective Services.