In a heartening display of civic duty, a good Samaritan intervened to save a 7-month-old baby girl left in perilous conditions following a carjacking incident in Chicago.
Authorities revealed on Thursday that Earl Abernathy, 33, was caught in traffic on July 3 when he heard the distressing cries of a baby. The infant was discovered on the steps of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, as reported by the New York Post.
According to Breitbart, Abernathy recounted the moment he noticed the baby struggling in her car seat, which had tipped over. "I saw the baby like, trying to wiggle [her] way out of the car seat and it tipped over," he shared with a local media outlet. "So, I just threw the hazards on, jumped out, ran over there [and] got the baby!" The child had been left in the backseat of a vehicle stolen earlier that day from a gas station, abandoned in the sweltering 92-degree heat.
In a bid to swiftly alert the infant's family, Abernathy contacted the police and took to Facebook Live. "It was crazy," he remarked. "Within minutes, the grandma had inboxed me like, Thats my grandbaby! And then the auntie inboxed like, Thats my niece!
The baby was subsequently taken to a nearby hospital for a wellness check and was joyfully reunited with her family. "We were all out of our minds," the baby's grandmother, Karen Whittington, told the Sun-Times. "Everyone is OK, and we [are] glad shes found."
The suspect, Jeremy Ochoa, 38, has been apprehended and is facing charges of kidnapping and vehicular hijacking. This incident underscores the importance of community vigilance and the swift action of individuals like Abernathy, who embody the principles of personal responsibility and civic engagement.
Login