Newport News Police arrested a 30-year-old woman on Thursday afternoon after her three children were found unattended inside a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot.
Police say they were dispatched to the Walmart at 6111 Jefferson Avenue around 2:45 p.m.
When they arrived, they found a 2-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy, and a 9-year-old boy in the backseat of a vehicle with the window partially rolled down and the door unlocked.
Officers said they received information that they children may have been in the vehicle for 20 minutes before they arrived.
A few minutes later, the children’s mother, 30-year-old Shirlean Whichard, returned to the car. She was arrested and charged with three counts of child neglect.
Child Protective Services was contacted and the children were released to their father.
