Woman locks COVID-infected son in car's trunk

A woman locked her COVID-infected minor son in the trunk of her car after he had developed virus symptoms and she wanted to avoid contracting it while driving him to the testing site.

The incident was reported in Texas state of the United States (US) and she has now been charged with endangering a child.

According to local media reports, court documents say that Sarah Beam, 41, told an employee at the test site that she had put him in the car’s trunk so she wouldn’t be exposed.

The incident took place on January 3, court documents say when Beam reportedly drove to the Cy-Fair ISD COVID testing site at Pridgeon Stadium and told employees there that her son was in the trunk.

The health worker asked to see her son, the documents say, and Beam unlatched the trunk. The boy was lying down with no safety restraints.

The worker told Beam that the boy would have to move to the back seat of the car before testing could take place; surveillance video shows him moving from the trunk to the back seat. The health worker also called the school district police to the scene.

A warrant has been issued for Beam’s arrest. Beam has worked with Cy-Fair ISD since 2011, the district said, most recently at Cypress Falls High School.

She has been placed on administrative leave.