Arizona woman charged after accidentally leaving infant son at supermarket

GILBERT, N.Y. -- Officials have announced they are charging a mom who left her baby in a shopping cart on Monday.

The Gilbert, Ariz., Police Department said Cherish Peterson will be charged with a class one misdemeanor.

On Aug. 24, employees at Super Cuts at Higley and Pecos roads said a woman came into their store asking if a baby left outside belonged to one of their clients. It's unknown how long the baby was left unattended before employees went to get the child inside.

Gilbert police said they took the baby to the hospital for precautionary reasons and that he appeared to be uninjured.

Peterson was located about 40 minutes later and police said she was stressed and panicked. She told officials that she forgot that she left the child on the sidewalk outside of the salon. She is believed to have been shopping at the Fry's next door. The mother has two other children.

The story has generated a huge reaction online -- with many coming to the woman's defense.

"It wasn't like I knew I left him," Peterson, 27, said. "I got into my car, and normally I put my cart away, but I didn't need to because I parked at the front of the store. And I

drove away."

Forty minutes later when she got home, she realized Huxton was not in the car. "As I was pulling into the garage, my 3-year-old goes, 'Where's baby Huxton?' His car seat is right behind me. I turned

around and realized it was gone."

"I thought the whole time he was in my car", she said.

Her husband has sprung to her defense. "I married the best. In terms of the mother and wife, Cherish is to me and our children," he said.

The Petersons admitting they're not perfect parents - and they've learned this the hard way. "I'm a good mom who made a horrible mistake," said Cherish Peterson