BAY CITY, MI — A Linwood mother is charged with drunkenly leaving her baby daughter in a hot car, assaulting her husband, and resisting police.
About 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, Michigan State Police troopers and a Bay County sheriff's deputy responded to a domestic violence call at a Linwood home. A 36-year-old man had called 911 to report his wife, 43-year-old Janessa M. Gentle (also known by the surname Toyzan) had assaulted him.
When officers arrived, the husband told them his wife has a drinking problem and that he came home for lunch at about 1 p.m. and found her already heavily intoxicated. They had an argument, then he returned to work, he said.
At about 4 p.m., he received a call from a school bus garage saying his 11-year-old stepdaughter had not been picked up from the bus stop. The man told police this has happened several times.
He left work to retrieve the girl and took her home. As he walked inside, Gentle was on the phone and their 6-month-old baby was not in the house. The man said he went outside and found the baby in Gentle's car, in a car seat, wrapped in blankets with all the windows rolled up, court records show.
The baby's skin was red and was very hot, the father told police. According to the National Weather Service, it was 76 degrees around Linwood as of 4 p.m.
The father took the baby inside the house and had another argument with Gentle, he said. She eventually left in her car and did not come back until about 6:30 p.m., smelling of booze. They argued again and the father gathered up the baby in an attempt to leave, he said.
At that point, Gentle grabbed and clawed at her husband's arm, he said. He told her he was going to call the police and she replied that if he did, she'd just say he hit her, court records show.
The man took his baby to the garage and called 911. Gentle followed him and sat in a chair in the garage until police arrived.
Police wrote in their reports, contained in court records, that they encountered Gentle seated in the garage, wearing a bathrobe. She smelled heavily of intoxicants, had glossy eyes, and slurred speech, saying "ociffer" several times, court records show.
Gentle told them she had two Bloody Marys at lunch and nothing else to drink. She said her husband had been verbally abusive to her and that she didn't pick up her daughter at the bus stop because she had briefly lost her keys. She said she set her baby in the car for only about 15 seconds while she looked for her keys, court records show.
Gentle went on to deny that she was on the phone when her husband and daughter came home. She said that she went to Bay City for a few hours to walk around, but denied having anything to drink in town, court records.
On returning home, she said she went to bed only to be awakened by her husband jerking her out of bed and throwing her to the floor, then punching her in the mouth, court records show. Police wrote in their reports that Gentle had no obvious injuries.
Gentle's daughter told police she was present when her stepdad found the baby in the car. She said she heard them argue, but said her stepdad was not aggressive and that he would never have hit her mom, court records show.
Police tried getting Gentle to put some clothes and shoes on, but she refused. As they attempted to arrest her, she resisted and had to be taken to the ground, court records show.
Police took her to McLaren Bay Region hospital so a blood sample could be taken. Gentle consented to the draw "because she was not driving when the police arrived and she knew she was going to beat the charges," police wrote.
The preliminary results of the blood test indicated her blood alcohol level was 0.325 percent. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when their blood alcohol level reaches 0.08 percent.
After Gentle was discharged from the hospital, police took her to the Bay County Jail.
Gentle on Tuesday, Sept. 13, appeared before Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer for arraignment on single counts of assaulting, resisting or obstructing police, second-offense domestic violence, operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.17 or higher, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and child abuse-leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle. The first charge is a two-year felony. The remainder are misdemeanors.
Janer set Gentle's bond at $10,000 cash-surety. If she posts it, she is to have no contact with her husband or children and must submit to three random blood alcohol tests per week.
Gentle is to appear for a preliminary examination at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 29.
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