PALM BAY, Fla. – After eight months of reviewing the case of a baby who died in a car while her mother led a church service, the state attorney’s office will prosecute Bulaine Molme on a charge of leaving a child alone in a car with bodily harm.
The third-degree felony is a downgrade from the first-degree felony Molme faced (as recommended by police when arrested last May) of aggravated manslaughter of a child.
At Mount of Olives Evangelical Baptist Church on Babcock Street, police said Molme, a pastor, thought other members of the church took her baby out of her car while Molme got ready for the service.
Police said Fendra Molme, who would have turned 1 within a few days, had a body temperature of 108 degrees when she was discovered in her car seat three hours later.
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A couple of months after the baby’s death, Florida’s agriculture commissioner came to Brevard County announcing the state was putting stickers on gas pumps warning not to leave children in hot cars.
Wilton Simpson said back in August that tragically, Florida was leading the country last year in hot-car deaths.
Molme has been out on bond since last summer.
Her family Wednesday declined to comment.
The state attorney’s office also declined to comment on not prosecuting Molme on a manslaughter charge.
A spokesperson said the state attorney’s office doesn’t comment on cases before they’re resolved.
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