A woman who locked her 5-year-old daughter in a car while she worked part-time went to court Tuesday to regain custody of the girl from the county, but court officials said the judge didn't rule. Police and court officials said the case was continued. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Family Court rules require that cases be kept confidential. The mother, Chante Fernandez, canceled a news conference she had planned after the hearing and refused to speak to reporters as she dashed from the Union County Courthouse to a limousine. Her attorney and police officers shielded Ms. Fernandez from the nearly reporters who waited in the courthouse garage. Ms. Fernandez' daughter, Anjuli, is under the care of the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services pending resolution of the case. The girl wasn't present at the hearing, a welfare official said. Ms. Fernandez, 24, of Elizabeth, was jailed after police found her pajama-clad daughter, Anjuli, in the trunk of a car on Oct. 20 at the Woodbridge Center mall, where Mrs. Fernandez worked part-time on weekends. The back seat was folded down so the girl could move about inside the car, and the mother said she checked on her daughter during work breaks. The mother said her combined income of nearly $500 a week from two jobs disqualified her from local or state child care services. During the week, she was a secretary at a lumber company; the weekend job was at a department store in the mall. The case has drawn an outpouring of support from New Jersey residents, who have offered her money, child care help and jobs. Ms. Fernandez pleaded guilty Friday to a disorderly persons offense and received a $100 suspended fine. The mother, who is divorced, said she left her daughter in the car while she worked at the mall because she was unable to find a reliable and affordable baby sitter. She also said she couldn't get local or state child care services. Ms. Fernandez initially was charged with criminal restraint, a felony, and spent two days in jail before posting $5,000 bail. The prosecutor reduced the charge to a disorderly persons offense after reviewing the case and concluding that the girl wasn't neglected or abused. Only Ms. Fernandez, her attorney, state welfare officials and court officers were allowed inside the hearing before Union County Judge John Callahan on Tuesday. Some relatives of Ms. Fernandez were allowed to stand outside the second- floor courtroom, but were stopped at the lobby.
