Michelle Jones positioned her city truck near the infant and remained at the scene until St. Louis police responded.
ST. LOUIS — A routine trip along Goodfellow Boulevard became an urgent rescue when a St. Louis Street Department worker saw a driver place a baby in a car seat in the roadway and speed away.
Michelle Jones said she was traveling north on Goodfellow when she noticed a blue car stopped near a roundabout. As she approached, she said, the driver removed a car seat from the vehicle and set it in the middle of the busy street. The driver then fled after appearing to notice Jones approaching.
Jones drove closer and realized an infant was strapped inside the seat as traffic continued moving nearby. She pulled her work truck as close to the car seat as possible, parked and called the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. She then stood beside the baby to keep the child safe until help arrived.
“I immediately pulled my truck as close as I could to the car seat, put my truck in park, got out, immediately called SLMPD, and stood beside the baby to make sure that he was safe,” Jones said.
The longtime city employee said the sight of the baby’s feet in small white socks made the danger clear. The infant had been left in an active traffic lane where a driver might not have seen the car seat in time to stop.
“Fast as traffic that people are driving today, anyone could have killed that baby,” Jones said.
Jones said she responded not only as a city worker but also as a mother. She is a mother of three, grandmother of 20 and great-grandmother of 10. She said her first concern was protecting the infant and making sure the child could be returned to safety.
“Your motherly instincts kick in,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t have done anything different but to stop and make sure that that baby was safe and placed back home.”
Police said the driver left the area after abandoning the infant. Investigators later arrested 36-year-old Christopher Pearson. He is charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and resisting arrest. The charges are allegations, and they do not establish guilt.
Authorities did not release the infant’s name or provide further details about the child’s condition or relationship to Pearson. The supplied reports also did not say how long the baby was in the roadway before Jones arrived.
Jones said the experience left her frightened and nearly unable to describe what she had witnessed. She also expressed gratitude that her work route placed her on Goodfellow at the moment the baby needed protection.
“I just thank God I was there to save him,” Jones said.
Pearson’s case remained pending following his arrest. No additional court schedule or update on the infant had been released in the material available Friday.
Author note: Last updated July 24, 2026.