Sarah Lowelle Traylor was released on Monday after more than a week in jail. She posted bail through the Bell County Personal Bond Department.
Workers there would not comment about her final bail amount, which was initially set at $50,000.
Last week her attorney, Ted Potter, asked Judge Joe Carroll of 27th District Court to lower it to $2,500. Carroll then referred her to the county bond department, which generally offers low-cost bonds.
Child Protective Services placed Ms. Traylor’s son in the custody of her sister, according to a staff member from Potter’s office.
Ms. Traylor is charged with child abandonment, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in jail.
On June 28, a passer-by saw the toddler locked inside a green Chevy Cavalier parked in the H-E-B parking lot in the 2500 block of Trimmier Road and notified staff at the store.
The temperature outside at the time was in the 100-degree range.
Attempts to locate Ms. Traylor were unsuccessful, including one using the store’s public address system, according to court documents.
Officers said they smashed out the rear window of the car to get at the boy because he looked dazed, confused and fatigued. Police said he had been locked in the car for at least 17 minutes.
While police were waiting by the car for the owner to show up, a car drove up and a woman who they identified as Ms. Traylor got out and said the green Chevy was hers, according to the document.
She reportedly became hysterical and began crying when police asked her if she knew where her son was. The police report said she told officers she had been shopping with a friend and thought her son was with her boyfriend.
Ms. Traylor later gave a written statement in which she revealed that she had told her boyfriend she was going to the store and taking the child with her. She said she witnessed her boyfriend putting the child in the car before she left, the affidavit said.
