Woman abandoned baby in stranger’s driveway — 3rd similar incident in a week, police say

WASHINGTON, Washington County — A southern Utah woman has been arrested and accused of leaving her infant daughter at a stranger’s home and then driving off.

The incident marks the third time in less than a week in Utah that a child was found to be abandoned or left unattended by their mother. In all of the cases, drugs or impairment were alleged to be factors.

In the latest incident, Kylie Lynn Smith, 36, was charged Wednesday in 5th District Court with child abandonment, failing to stop at the command of police, and theft, third-degree felonies; child abuse and reckless driving; class B misdemeanors; and intoxication, a class C misdemeanor.

Just after 2 p.m. Tuesday in Washington, Smith pulled into a stranger’s driveway at a high rate of speed and hit the rear hitch of a pickup truck that was parked, according to a police booking affidavit.

“The witnesses advised the female kept stating her child is sick and she needed to go to the hospital. The suspect female then proceeded to open the door to the unlocked Dodge Ram pickup truck … and attempted to start the vehicle,” the affidavit states.

Because no keys were in the pickup, Smith could not start it. She then returned to her own car and began pulling items out of it, including her two-month-old daughter who was strapped in a car seat, and placed them on the curb, according to the arrest report. “The female then proceeded to get into her vehicle and leave the scene.”

The infant was taken to a local hospital to be checked out but appeared to be in good health, the affidavit says.

Based on other items left on the curb, detectives were able to identify Smith. All officers in the area were alerted to be on the lookout for her.

“After a brief period of time (an officer) was patrolling in the area of Red Hills Parkway when he noticed the suspect vehicle travel passed him at about 100 mph,” according to the affidavit.

Due to safety concerns, the officer did not engage in a pursuit but was able to get a license plate number. Smith was later located in St. George and was arrested.

Witnesses told police Smith acted “like she was on drugs.” Police further noted that when detectives attempted to talk to her when she was taken into custody, “she did not know what her name was. Kylie advised her name was not Kylie. Kylie’s speech was slurred and she was not able to stay on topic at all,” the affidavit alleges.

Smith is the third woman in Utah in less than a week who was arrested and accused of leaving a child alone or unsupervised.

Over the weekend, Veronica Rose Gourley, 33, was arrested in Tooele after police say she gave birth and then left her newborn in the hospital for seven hours while she smoked fentanyl. Police say she gave birth in a car at a park about 8 p.m. Friday. An officer was notified of the situation after being flagged down by a bystander. She was taken to a local hospital but left by 5 a.m. Saturday against the recommendation of doctors, according to police By 12:45 p.m. when medical staff didn’t think she was coming back, police were contacted.

Gourley was charged Monday with child endangerment, a second-degree felony; and child abandonment, a third-degree felony.

On Sunday, Bluffdale police arrested two women for investigation of child endangerment after police were called to a park where they said a child was observed by others alone for hours. The child claimed his mother had been doing heroin and was asleep, a police affidavit says. Mindy Lynn Hatt, 46, and Danika Lynn Cunningham, 24, were each arrested for investigation of child endangerment and drug possession.

Smith was also charged Aug. 7 with aggravated assault and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, third-degree felonies; and intoxication, a class C misdemeanor.