By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 24-year-old Birmingham woman who is facing allegations of leaving her infant in a parked, locked car while she shopped in Alabaster last summer has been granted contact with the child after complying with Shelby County Department of Human Resources requirements over the past several months, according to court documents.

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Crowson agreed on July 26 to allow Deidra Nicole Williams, who lists an address on Golden Crest Circle, to have contact with the child “as allowed by DHR” while she is awaiting the resolution of her charge.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Williams on July 2, 2016, 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, previously said officers responded to the parking lot of the Southbrook Village shopping center in Alabaster on the afternoon of July 2, 2016, 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.

Alabaster police officers, firefighters and medics responded to the scene, and Williams walked out of a nearby store and opened the vehicle’s doors for emergency responders, Humphries said.

The child underwent a precautionary medical check, and was turned over to the Shelby County DHR.

Since she was arrested, Williams “has complied with DHR and attended all required parenting classes,” read Crowson’s July 26 order.

Williams is now set to appear in Shelby County District Court on Sept. 20 for a preliminary hearing.