Woman who abandoned child in December 2021 sentenced to mental health treatment over jail

A woman who abandoned her 2-year-old son outside her Spokane Valley apartment on a winter day more than a year ago won’t see any jail time.

Amber L. Shay, 34, pleaded guilty on Jan. 18 to child abandonment after suffering from an apparent mental breakdown in December 2021.

Shay’s son was taken into protective custody after her neighbors at the Eagle Pointe Apartments, 2718 N. Bowdish Road, found the child naked and wrapped in blankets outside of her unit door on Dec. 12. Shay started a fire in her apartment the following day and was then arrested, according to court documents.

The court granted a no-contact order blocking Shay from her son that will last until January 2028. She was also required to obtain mental health and substance disorder evaluations and report to a corrections officer.

She will not receive a judgment on the apartment fire if she successfully completes a mental health court program, her attorney said.