Police: Arp parents left 4 kids in hot car while they shopped at Tyler Walmart

Published 2:32 pm Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Two parents were arrested Monday after police say they left their four young children in a hot car while they shopped inside a Tyler store.

Arp residents Emily Kay Bearden, 27, and David Alan Bearden, 28, were shopping at the Walmart on South Broadway Avenue when police say one of their children sought help after being left inside a parked car on a hot July day.

The four children — ranging in age from 5 weeks to 10 years old — were left in a parked car with the engine running, according to the Tyler Police Department. However, one of the children turned the car off and began to panic. The child started looking for help and ultimately was able to find a Walmart employee, who called the police.

Emergency responders responded to the Walmart and checked on the children, who were hot but not hurt.

When the Beardens returned to the car, they were arrested on four counts each of child endangerment and booked into the Smith County Jail.

Police said the children are in the custody of family.

A heat advisory was in place Monday, according to the National Weather Service of Shreveport. Temperatures were in the upper 90s and combined with the humidity resulted in a heat index of 105 to 109 degrees.

Children left inside vehicles during hot weather can suffer from heat exhaustion or heat stroke in a matter of minutes, leading to permanent disability or even death, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Heat stroke can shock, seizures, irregular heartbeat, and heart attack, as well as brain, liver, and kidney damage.

“Do not leave your kids, your pets, any living creature in a car,” Tyler Police Public Information Officer Andy Erbaugh said in an interview with CBS19, especially in the Texas heat. “… (Not) in the parking lot, in the driveaway — anywhere. It’s hot. If the car battery dies, if the kid turns it off, if it stalls, whatever — it’s a danger that your child will be physically and mentally impaired or deceased.”

Leaving a child unattended in a car is a crime in Texas, and can also be a form of neglectful supervision investigated by Child Protective Services. Child endangerment charges may also be pursued.