BOZEMAN – A Livingston woman is accused of meth possession and leaving her 3-year-old son alone in her truck while she was in a Bozeman motel room for at least 1 ½ hours on Sunday.
According to court documents, Bozeman police arrested 30-year-old Kimberly Sherrell around 5:30 a.m. Sunday after a welfare check was requested for a child under the age of 5 who had been left in a truck for at least 90 minutes.
The officer opened a truck door to check on the child, court documents state, and immediately noticed the odor of feces and urine. The officer said the boy had bumps that looked like mosquito bites on his forehead and dark circles under his eyes.
The responding officer said in court documents that when he performed the welfare check at the motel on Wheat Drive, he found a young boy asleep in the back of the reported vehicle. The officer said the truck was not running but keys were in the ignition, music was playing, and all the doors were unlocked.
An ambulance arrived and took the boy to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital for further evaluation, followed by another police officer.
The responding officer requested assistance from Park County deputies as the truck was registered to a Livingston address. The deputies were able to locate the child’s great-grandmother, according to court documents, who confirmed the boy is 3 years old and Sherrell is the mother.
Officers located Sherrell in a room at the motel with another man. She reportedly gave no explanation for why her son was left in the truck and said she had been in the room for about 90 minutes. The man in the room allegedly said Sherrell had been there since around 2:30 a.m., which would have placed her in the room for approximately three hours.
Sherrell was arrested for endangering the welfare of children and transported to the Gallatin County Detention Center. When her possessions were searched, officers allegedly found two glass pipes and two baggies containing a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. Sherrell was additionally cited for criminal possession of dangerous drugs.
Sherrell appeared in Gallatin County Justice Court on Monday, where her bail was set at $10,000. She is not to have any contact with the child, who is currently in the custody of other family members.
Sherrell’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 19.
