Woman Accused Of Leaving Quadriplegic Son In Woods Waives Extradition

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- A woman accused of abandoning her quadriplegic son in the woods for four days will be facing charges in Philadelphia.

Alex DeMetrick reports she began that trip home from a Maryland courtroom.

Earlier this month, the weather was still cold and often wet in a wooded Philadelphia park---and that's where a 21-year-old man paralyzed from the neck down spent four days and nights, allegedly abandoned there by his mother, 41-year-old Nyia Parler.

"She took him out of the wheelchair, laid him down and put a Bible with him and put a blanket on top," said Philadelphia Police Department Lt. John Walker.

He might have died there if he hadn't literally been stumbled upon.

"Right here, right here. When I looked over, I seen a package and I walked over to the package and he was lying right there, and I do like this: I jumped back and said, `Oh my God,'" said the man who found him.

Parler took a bus to Maryland to visit her boyfriend, telling family members her son was with her.

Police in Maryland arrested Parler at her boyfriend's Montgomery County home on April 11.

She waived extradition Tuesday in Montgomery County District Court. She appeared in a fifth floor courtroom by video from the county jail. She only stated her name. The judge accepted her paperwork to not fight extradition and return to Philadelphia. Once there, she faces charges that include attempted murder, kidnapping and assault.

"It's heartbreaking to see another human, especially a mother, can treat someone like that when you had all the opportunities in the world to turn that kid over to family members who wanted to care for him," said Walker.

The quadriplegic son was treated for dehydration and malnourishment. Police say his eyes were also damaged during his ordeal.