Crime & Safety

Mentor Man Given Maximum Possible Jail Sentence For Abandoning Baby In Car

Kevin Payerchin pleaded guilty Monday to child endangering and was sentenced to six months in jail

A Mentor man received the longest jail sentence Judge John Trebets could give him for leaving a baby alone in a hot car .

Kevin Payerchin, 27, pleaded guilty today to child endangering.

Trebets then sentenced Payerchin to six months in jail and, after that, two years of probation.

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He also ordered Payerchin to take parenting classes and seek treatment for drug an alcohol abuse.

Though Payerchin was sentenced to six months in jail, he received credit for the 24 days he has already spent behind bars since his arrest. That means he will serve 156 more days in jail.

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when a man noticed an unattended baby in a parked car in the lot behind East Coast Custard and called police.

While waiting for the police to arrive, the man also opened the cars' unlocked doors and rolled down the windows because the baby looked distressed. He and some employees from the ice cream shoppe also got the 1-year-old girl some ice water and paper towels because she was sweating heavily, police said.

Paramedics took the child to Lake West Medical Center in Willoughby where the infant has made a full recovery.

Police checked the license plate of the car, which was registered to Amandalyn Tomcany, the baby's mother, who was working elsewhere.

One of the East Coast employees told police that she saw a man by the van earlier who then walked to the apartment complex next door.

Tomcany also lived in the same apartment complex, so police checked on her apartment and found Payerchin there.

Payerchin's speech was slurred, his eyes were glossy and he was watching another 2-year-old girl play on the balcony, police said.

When asked about the baby, Payerchin told the officers she was with her mother.

Payerchin then admitted that he had some medication, vodka and beer that day.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Tomcany was also convicted of endangering children and operating a vehicle while intoxicated earlier this year, .

She is scheduled to be sentenced August 8.

The children living with Tomcany and Payerchin are now staying with other relatives while Lake County Jobs and Family Services investigate them, police said.


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