A homeless man was sentenced to prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to leaving two young children alone in a car for over an hour earlier this year.
Justin Everett Lawson, 29, who has remained in custody on zero bond since his arrest May 30, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, punishable by up to six years in prison, and was sentenced to 42 months in prison.
He was also ordered to pay $190 in court costs and a previously issued court order barring him from contact with the children will remain in effect.
The mother of the two children, Lilly Grace Repaso, 24, of Hot Springs, who was arrested the same day on the same charges, was released the next day on a $3,500 bond and is set to stand trial Feb. 24.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on May 30, around 2 p.m., Garland County sheriff's Deputies Scott Hinojosa and Richard Huffman responded to McDonald's, 3101 Albert Pike Road, for a welfare check on two minor children left alone in a vehicle at the restaurant.
Huffman said they saw a young boy and girl inside the vehicle, a white Chevrolet Envoy, which was unlocked and "left running in reverse." He noted both were in car seats that were not properly secured. The affidavit did not list the exact ages of the children.
The deputies entered the vehicle and noted the air conditioner was on but was not blowing out cold air. LifeNet personnel also responded and took the children inside the ambulance to check them medically.
Huffman spoke with the person who had called to report the incident who stated she had noticed the two children in the vehicle shortly before 2 p.m. The deputies entered the restaurant to find the parents but were unable to do so.
Department of Human Services officials were notified and arrived on the scene. About an hour after the deputies arrived, Repaso, identified as the mother of the children, came to the scene.
Repaso reportedly stated she had left her children with a friend, identified as Lawson, after she and Lawson got into an argument and she got out of the vehicle and walked home to her residence on Cooper Street, located about 3.4 miles away.
She said she saw Lawson ride past her house on a bicycle without her children and she asked him where the children were and he told her they were in the vehicle parked at McDonald's.
Repaso said she "started running to get a ride back" to the restaurant and that Lawson also headed that way on his bicycle. Repaso was taken into custody at that time and Lawson was located minutes later and also arrested.
Lawson said he thought Repaso saw him get out of the vehicle and get onto his bicycle and leave.
Local on 12/13/2019