OXNARD : Mother Who Left Baby Gets 6 Months

A 22-year-old Santa Ana woman who pleaded guilty earlier this month to charges that she abandoned her baby daughter on the shoulder of Pacific Coast Highway in Oxnard has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath sentenced Lori Carlson on Tuesday for one count of willful cruelty to a child. However, Carlson will serve half of that term because she has already spent 91 days in Ventura County Jail during the trial. She also was sentenced to five years probation.

The felony to which Carlson pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison, officials said.

Carlson had admitted in court that she left 10-month-old Brittany Carlson beside the road on May 29 after arguing with her former boyfriend, Wayne Jefferds. Witnesses testified that on the night of the incident, Carlson appeared to have been drinking and tried several times to foist her daughter off on other people.

Another motorist, Jesus Garcia, testified that he saw Carlson leave Brittany on the shoulder of the highway and drive away. Garcia said he put the child in his car and caught up with Carlson down the road, but she refused to take her daughter back.

Garcia turned the baby over to police.

Brittany and Carlson’s other daughter, Alicia, 3, are staying with their maternal grandparents in Santa Ana, court officials said.