Mom who left kids in stolen car charged with abuse, neglect

A mother who left her children unattended in a vehicle that was subsequently stolen outside a liquor store — and crashed — has been charged, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said.

Kyna C. Garnett, 32, of Lawnside, was charged Wednesday on a summons with one count of fourth-degree abuse and neglect.

The incident occurred around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday outside Colombo Liquors on the 500 block of the White Horse Pike in Magnolia. Garnett had left her Chevrolet Traverse running with her 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son inside the vehicle when she entered the store, the prosecutor's office said.

Shortly after she left the vehicle, Christopher R. Dumas, 38, of Paulsboro, got into the SUV and drove away with the children inside, the prosecutor's office said.

Dumas later crashed the stolen vehicle into a Suzuski SUV at Merchant Street and Hampshire Avenue in Audubon, the office said.

Dumas, the two children and the other driver, a 48-year-old Mount Ephraim woman, were all taken to Cooper University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Dumas is charged with three counts each of aggravated assault and assault by auto, two counts each of kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child and one count each of theft, receiving stolen property and eluding. He is being held at the Camden County Jail with bail set at $617,500.

Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from businesses in the area of the incident, the prosecutor's office said. Preliminary findings indicate Garnett’s SUV was stolen approximately 30 seconds after she had exited the vehicle and entered the store, it said.

But the surveillance footage shows Garnett was in the liquor store for several minutes, according to the prosecutor's office.

She was processed and released Wednesday.