PHOENIX (AP) – A single mother who left her two young sons in a hot car in Phoenix during a job interview was sentenced Friday to 18 years of supervised probation.
The sentencing brought an end to the case that saw Shanesha Taylor draw sympathy around the country and collect more than $114,000 in donations when her teary mug shot was published online.
Her story of trying to get a job without being able to find child care resonated with the public.
But the support quickly turned to scorn when she failed to meet a court deadline to place some of the money into a trust for her children as part of a plea agreement. Questions followed about how she was spending the money.
A judge followed prosecutors’ recommendation in sentencing the 36-year-old Taylor in the March 2014 incident.