Attorney Andy Savage talks with Sametta Heyward before her bond hearing Tuesday at Hanahan Municipal Court in Hanahan, S.C. Heyward, 27, who is accused of leaving her two young children in a hot car while she was at work, was charged with homicide by child abuse after their bodies were found wrapped in trash bags under an apartment sink, authorities said.

Shawn Jr. and Triniti Campbell

Hanahan, S.C. ? Sametta Heyward was in a bind. The single mother was scheduled to start a double shift at 3 p.m. and her baby sitter had just canceled.

“She was either told to come to work or be fired or she was afraid to call in sick – one of those things,” said police Lt. Michael Fowler.

She made it to her job at a county-run group home July 29, a typically warm summer day. After eight hours she called a supervisor and said she had to leave because of child care issues.

According to her employer, she didn’t tell the supervisor or a co-worker that for all that time, she had left her 1-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son in her Chevy Cavalier hatchback, parked on a residential street.

She had left Triniti and Shawn with battery-powered fans, food and drinks, but it was not nearly enough to combat the sweltering conditions inside. She later told relatives that when she got to the car at 11:30 p.m., the children were unconscious and had weak pulses.

A day later, police found her at her apartment wailing, “Oh, my babies!”

Officers said in a police report that she tried to kick and bite them and asked them to kill her. The bodies of the children, bathed and dressed, were found wrapped in trash bags and stuffed under the sink.

Heyward, 27, was charged with two counts of homicide by child abuse. A funeral for the children was Saturday.

Lab tests are pending that could help determine whether the children died in the stifling car or sometime after their mother rushed their limp bodies back to their tiny apartment.

People who know her say they considered her a loving mother, despite a life that turned tough.

“She and her kids were always happy, smiling and joking,” said Tony Smith, a neighbor.

It was an average summer day by South Carolina standards: 88 degrees. But the inside of the car would have been like an oven, according to experts, who say the children may not have had much of a chance even if the windows were cracked.

“If it’s in direct sunlight, you can easily get temperatures of 130 or 140 degrees in a car in 10 or 15 minutes,” said Dr. Keith Borg, an emergency room physician at the Medical University of South Carolina. “At that kind of temperature, it could kill an infant or a small child in minutes.”