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Report: Pigeon Forge mother left 9-month-old in car in freezing temperatures while she drank inside a bar

She was arrested for child abuse and neglect, leaving a child unattended in an automobile, and DUI.

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — A Pigeon Forge woman is facing a slew of charges after police said she left her 9-month-old son in a car unattended, in 27-degree weather, while she drank inside The Roaming Gnome Pub & Eatery early Thursday morning. 

When Sevierville Police responded to the bar, they said a caller told them Emily Mitchell, 28, had returned to the car, started it and was trying to drive away. A bystander opened her driver's door, shut off the car, and kept her from leaving the scene, according to an incident report.

The caller said they believed Mitchell was impaired and they forced her to stay to keep the child from being placed in any further danger.

"We started looking in the car, we noticed a baby carrier in the back and started shining a flashlight," said Janice Phillips who was leaving the bar when she noticed an empty running car. She told bartenders inside there might have been a baby inside. 

Bartender Caleb Bradford asked who the car belonged to and eventually Mitchell said it was hers, "She agreed to show me there wasn't a baby in the car. Went to the car, opened up the door and said 'Look no baby.' Then I lifted up the blankets and there was a baby."

Bradford said as they were waiting for police, Mitchell got inside the car and closed the door. "At one point she was panicking and hopped in the car and shut the door. So I opened the door and snatched the keys out," he said. 

When officers got on scene, they said they spoke with Mitchell and several other people standing outside the car. 

"As I walked up to the scene the mother was telling the citizens keeping her from leaving to give her the keys so she could leave. I spoke to the mother (Emily Mitchell) who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol with bloodshot eyes," the report said. 

According to the SPD report, Mitchell's speech was sluggish and slurred and she was also unsteady on her feet.

The officer said he asked Mitchell "if her child had been in the car the entire time she was inside the bar and she stated yes but he was sleeping and covered with a blanket in his car seat."

Mitchell arrived at the bar around 1 a.m. and bar staff reportedly told investigators that Mitchell purchased her first liquor drink at 1:19 a.m. 

Bar staff told police that between 1:19 a.m and 2:39 a.m., when the 911 call was placed, Mitchell purchased four Agwa Bomb liquor drinks.

According to the report, it's unclear how many other drinks she had but there were several open and empty alcohol containers in the car as well. 

The 9-month-old had a "soiled diaper to the point he had leaked through his clothes and the seat was wet," according to the report. 

Officers also said he had spit up all over himself.

"This alone placed this child in extreme danger being unattended for over an hour, being that he could have aspirated and died if he did not get the spit up out of his mouth.," the report said.

The infant was transported by EMS LeConte Medical so that he could be checked by medical staff. The child remained in the custody of the hospital until DCS arrival, according to the report. 

Mitchell was transported to LeConte Medical Center where a blood sample was given. Sevierville Police said Mitchell was then transported to the Sevier County Jail.

She was arrested for child abuse and neglect, leaving a child unattended in an automobile, and DUI.

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