Palm Bay minister pleads no contest in 2023 death of child left in car
A Palm Bay minister whose 11-month-old baby girl died after being left in a hot car for three hours in May 2023, went before a judge Wednesday and pleaded no contest to charges in the case.
Brevard County Judge Aaron Peacock withheld adjudication in the case and placed Bulaine Molme, 38, on supervised probation for two years as part of the plea deal on a charge of leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle, court records show.
Molme, the co-pastor at the Mount of Olives Evangelical Baptist Church, a small, storefront congregation in Palm Bay, was originally charged with one count of aggravated manslaughter of a child.
Molme, who was to officiate a church service on May 28, 2023, told Palm Bay police detectives that she arrived late with four of her children that day and believed her youngest child, Fendra Molme, was taken inside by a church member. After services were done, she looked around the congregation and realized that her daughter was not inside the building, police reported.
More: Infant died of overheating in Palm Bay case, Brevard medical examiner reports
Several people ran frantically to the parking lot and found the girl still inside the hot car, unresponsive, reports show. Witnesses and Palm Bay police attempted to revive the child but she was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Molme was arrested and later released on bond, jail records show.
The Florida Department of Children and Families talked to the parents and asked for a drug test at the time of her arrest. records show. There were no records indicating the family had any prior contact with the social service agency or had any criminal history, police reported. The parents were also cooperative with police, answering questions and sitting for interviews. Witnesses described Molme and her husband as "caring," court records show.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Palm Bay mother pleads no contest in death of daughter left in hot car
