Metro

A Bedford woman is facing child endangerment charges after allegedly leaving her two young children unsupervised in her vehicle while grocery shopping, resulting in one of the children giving the other a concussion.

Ashley Dawn Headley, 27, was arraigned Friday by Magisterial District Judge Tonya M. Osman on two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children. She remains free on $20,000 unsecured bail.

The charges were brought by state police at Bedford after receiving a tip from the county’s Children and Youth Services on Jan. 5 regarding an incident in which Headley left her children, a 1-year-old and 3-year-old, alone in her vehicle on Dec. 15 while she entered a grocery store, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Headley told police she had turned her vehicle off and entered the store, leaving the victims unattended for about 10 minutes. During her absence, the 3-year-old victim struck the 1-year-old victim with a metal cup, the police report states.

While the victim was later playing normally at home, Headley said she ultimately decided to take them to UPMC Bedford for an evaluation because she wasn’t comfortable allowing him to go to sleep. At the hospital, CT scans and general evaluations were performed on the victim and Headley was told the impact to the victim’s face likely caused a concussion, the report states.

Bedford County Children and Youth Services then became involved and further evaluations were requested. UPMC Bedford medical records showed the 1-year-old victim suffered a “closed head injury with concussion” and “concussion without loss of consciousness, internal encounter,” according to the affidavit.

Headley is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in front of Osman on Jan. 2.