Mother who forgot her baby in a shopping cart breaks her silence

Updated

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) -- Cherish Peterson, 27, forgot her 2-month-old baby boy in a shopping cart in front of a Fry's grocery store on Monday. Now, she's breaking her silence to share her side of the story. In a KPHO interview, she said:

"I'm a good mom who made a horrible mistake."


In the tearful interview, the Phoenix mother explained that she was rushing in and out of the grocery story that day to buy candy for her nephew's birthday. She was with three of her four young children when the incident occurred. She said:

"I got into my car, and normally I put my cart away, but I didn't need to because I parked at the front of the store and I never park there. And I drove away."


After Peterson drove away, an off-duty Phoenix police officer discovered the baby almost immediately. He took the baby to a nearby Supercuts salon.

While the baby was not injured and is now safe, Peterson faced intense social media backlash about the incident. She was called a drug addict and a terrible parent. Gilbert Police say that Peterson returned to the store to look for her baby within 40 minutes of the incident when she realized her mistake. Peterson said:

"As I was pulling into the garage, my 3-year-old goes, 'Where's baby Huxton?' His car seat is right behind me. I turned around and realized it was gone."


Peterson went on to admit that it took her a long time to realize the mistake. She explained that she genuinely thought the baby was in the car with her during those 40 minutes. She said:

"It was still a long time. It was still 40 minutes. It was not two hours. And I never took my other kids out of the car, so it wasn't like I knew I left him. I thought the whole time he was in my car."


Peterson's husband, Nathan Peterson, defended his wife during the interview. He said:

"I married the best, in terms of the mother and wife Cherish is to me and our children. A mistake was made, and we learned, but we're not perfect. We're not perfect. But we love our family and we love our children and we are grateful that everything is okay."


Gilbert police have forwarded a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment to the town prosecutor. Peterson claimed that she will agonize over and regret the mistake for the rest of her life. She said:

"There is nothing I love more in this world than being a mom, and there is no one in this world who could love my kids more than me."




Watch this video to learn more about the dangers of leaving children in shopping carts:

24,000 Child Injuries Caused by Shopping Carts Annually
24,000 Child Injuries Caused by Shopping Carts Annually



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