DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A Douglasville mother is behind bars after police say she kept her children outside overnight on one of the coldest nights of the season.
One of those children, a three-year-old, died.
Alina Aulger remembers picking up Uriha Ridge and her two children t Fox Hall Resort in Douglasville on Monday, Jan. 15.
“I asked them, did they like staying at Fox Hall and she was like ‘yeah we are renovating our house, we are staying there temporarily until our house is ready’,” Aulger says.
Aulger drove the trio from the resort to an industrial building where the mother, Uriha Ridge, told Alina she worked.
“It was a little weird because they were all in pajamas,” Aulger recalls.
Douglas County investigators say it was midnight back at Fox Hall Resort when they believe Ridge took her two kids, ages three and seven, away from the resort and into the woods.
It wasn’t until 11:51 the next morning, nearly 12 hours later, that a call for help was made, despite Ridge “having a cell phone with a properly charged battery” according to investigators.
The two children were found minimally clothed and wet after being in the rain for hours on a night when the low was 18 degrees.
“What happens is as hypothermia starts to set in, the body tries to lose heat faster than it can create it or maintain it and the body temperature starts to drop,” said Dr. Jayne Morgan with Piedmont Healthcare.
The three-year-old was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, but later passed away.
Investigators say they believe the consumption of illegal drugs is the root cause.
“I couldn’t imagine both of those babies being soaking wet in the cold,” Aulger says. “That’s just inhumane.”
Ridge is now facing charges of cruelty to children and felony murder.
WSB-TV’s Candace McCowan contributed to this story