Deputies say that around midnight, a mother, identified as 21-year-old Kimberly Cook, and her boyfriend, 29-year-old Anthony Blue, left their Chrysler 300 running and unlocked in the parking lot while they were inside the store to play gaming machines.
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When they came out to check on her son, the car was missing. The 16-month-old was asleep in a car seat in the back seat of the vehicle.
During the search for the stolen car, a park ranger was closing up MacGregor Park at 12:25 a.m.
He locked all the gates, and the park was empty, except for a homeless person, whom he told to leave.
As the park ranger moved closer to one of the gates, he saw what he thought was an animal walking through the parking lot. It turns out it was the missing 16-month-old shivering in his onesie.
Houston police responded and took the child to Texas Children's Hospital as a precaution.
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Around 1 a.m., police found the couple's stolen car, where the suspects inside led officers on a chase before coming to a stop.
Two suspects, identified as 18-year-old Jabari Davis and 19-year-old Vincent Cannady, were taken into custody and questioned.
"It's pretty chilly out here and a lot of wild animals running around out there. Things could've ended very differently had the park ranger not come by here and located the baby," said Kerry Clopton with the Houston Fire Department.
Cook and Blue were charged with child endangerment.
According to the maternal grandmother, the child's name is Franklynn.
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Davis was charged with kidnapping, auto theft and felony evading. Cannady was charged with auto theft and kidnapping. Both of them were on deferred adjudication for previous felony offenses. Officials said both of them were at the Harris County Young Men About Change, a corrections treatment facility earlier in the day, but left.
YMAC released the following statement to ABC13:
YMAC is a community corrections treatment facility where individuals can be ordered as a condition of probation. It is a treatment facility. It is not a jail or prison and is not staffed by law enforcement officers or corrections officers like a jail or prison. While the facility is locked, the staff cannot physically restrain a probationer attempting to leave the facility. If a defendant leaves without permission, he/she/they can be charged with a State Jail Felony.
In these cases, law enforcement is contacted when they leave and it's up to the DA Office to take charges: Unauthorized Absence from a Community Corrections Facility charge.