By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A 23-year-old Birmingham woman is facing up to 10 years in prison after police said she allegedly left her infant in parked, locked car while she shopped at a nearby store on July 2.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Deidra Nicole Williams, who lists an address on Golden Crest Circle in Birmingham, on July 2 and charged her with one felony count of willful abuse of a child younger than 18.

The charge is a Class C felony, and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison upon conviction. Williams was released from the Shelby County Jail the day after she was arrested after posting a $5,000 bond.

APD Lt. Grant Humphries, who is in charge of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division, said officers responded to the parking lot of the Southbrook Village shopping center in Alabaster on the afternoon of July 2 after concerned citizens saw Williams’ 5-month-old child alone in the locked 2007 Mazda 6, which was not running.

According to the National Weather Service office at the Shelby County Airport, Alabaster saw a high temperature of 97 degrees on the afternoon of July 2.

“Within a few minutes of receiving the call, we had officers, firefighters and medics on the scene,” Humphries said, noting Williams walked out of a nearby store and opened the car for emergency responders.

“The timeframe, as far as how long the child was in the car, is still under investigation,” Humphries said. “As far as I know, the baby was OK. Luckily, we were able to get there quickly.”

The child currently is in the custody of the Shelby County Department of Human Resources.

Williams is set to appear in Shelby County District Court on Aug. 10 for a preliminary hearing.