Hot Car Deaths -- Leave kids in the car and go shopping...

[Lady Cop]

Investigators search the back of the white van where the baby died on Saturday afternoon





A nine-month-old boy has died after being left in a scorching hot car parked in his family's driveway.

The baby, who has not been named, was unresponsive when he was discovered strapped into a baby seat in the back of a white minivan between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on Saturday.

He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.The vehicle was parked in the back driveway of the two-story Lowell, Massachusetts, home where the little boy lived.

[HairOfTheDog]

Gotta get the tan on...



As outside temperatures soared to 90 degrees on May 15, a Portland, Oregon, police officer found a 3-year-old boy and a 2-month old girl drenched in sweat and crying in a Dodge Caravan with its windows sealed.

23-year-old Kristin Marie Jones (pictured above), the children's nanny, allegedly exited the Sunblaze Tanning parlor as the cop rescued the boy from the car.

A crime report says the boy was radiating heat that the officer felt through his bullet proof vest, the Oregonian reports.

Jones was arraigned on two counts each of first-degree criminal mistreatment, recklessly endangering another, first-degree child neglect and one count of driving while suspended.

Police records obtained by KOIN say that Jones initially told the officer that the children's mother had been with the children in the car. She later admitted that she lied about the mom's whereabouts because she was scared, the documents say. A welfare worker reportedly confirmed the mother was at work all day.

Jones has previous convictions for DUI, driving with a suspended license and theft, according to KPTV. (HOTD: all of which would have shown up on a basic internet background check; why are people taking such chances when choosing with whom to entrust their children? )

Jones is due in court again on Aug. 15 and is forbidden to work as a nanny (HOTD: good).

http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2014/06/30...ing-salon/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/01...46026.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Baby Strangles Self While Alone in Car, Virginia



2-year-old Mikayla died of blunt force trauma to her neck, the state medical examiner’s office said. Police believe she got her head and neck trapped between one of the car’s windows and the door frame, possibly after she activated one of the window buttons.

During a brief hearing Friday in Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, substitute Judge Mary Owens ordered Inge to be held without bond pending her next court appearance July 7.

Chesterfield police said they were called to a mobile home park on Jefferson Davis Highway about 9:40 p.m. for a report of a child not breathing. Officers found the child and she was rushed to VCU Medical Center, where she died.

Chesterfield police Lt. P.J. McCann said the investigation has revealed that Inge left the child in the car to visit friends. She was inside for about five minutes before coming back out to check on her daughter. “It was a very short period of time,” McCann said.

When police arrived, they found the car keys in the ignition and the engine turned off. “Either the ignition had to have been on or the car had to have been running” for the electric window buttons to operate, McCann said. (HOTD: sounds like police think Tabitha left the car running and tried to lie about that part -- might explain holding her without bond.)

Larry Inge said his daughter had stopped by a customer’s home to drop off some hair products and left the child for a very short time. When she came back and found her daughter, she tried to revive her, Inge said.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/local/...mode=story
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Sad case -- RIP, Mikayla Thurston.

[HairOfTheDog]

HOT CAR CHILD FATALITIES - US

-Average number per year since 1998: 38
-Total so far in 2014: 13
-Total in 2013: 44

-Total number of U.S. 1998-present: 619

Circumstances
-52% - child "forgotten" by caregiver (316 Children)
-29% - child playing in unattended vehicle (175)
-18% - child intentionally left in vehicle by adult (108)
-1% - circumstances unknown (6)

Source: http://www.ggweather.com/heat/

It's the season. Hoping some of the public awareness campaigns and the media from the Harris case results in fewer of these deaths this year than last.

[HairOfTheDog]

Change in Routine Leads to Forgotten Child Fatality



ROCKLEDGE, Fla. — Steven Darnell Lillie, 31, was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter a week after his 9-month-old daughter, Anna Marie Lillie (RIP), died when he forgot to drop her off at her grandmother's house before he went to work.

"He's been cooperative the whole time, and he handled the arrest as well as it could be handled. He was emotional," said Lt. Donna Seyferth, a spokeswoman for the Rockledge Police Department.

Anna Marie spent close to four hours in her car seat in the back seat of her father's truck. She succumbed to heat stroke before Lillie realized the problem when he received a call from a family member asking about the baby. The child's core body temperature was more than 109 degrees when she arrived at the hospital, police said.

Children are more susceptible than adults to heatstroke, when body's internal temperature rises to 104 degrees. And unless any victims of heatstroke are cooled down quickly, they can die.

"We investigated the case and applied the most appropriate charges. And we did step back and allow the family a chance to grieve," Seyferth said. "But it's a fine line to walk, and ultimately, you had a child die. The rest will be up to a jury."

Lillie had told police that he forgot to check the backseat of his truck before he went inside the offices of the Fraternal Order of Police where he worked as a telephone solicitor.

Lillie told police he was going to drop off his colleague at work before dropping off his child and expected to have to unlock the door for his colleague.

But the door to the office in a strip mall was open. He walked in, saw paperwork on his desk, sat down and focused on his job.

Because the door was unlocked when he arrived, Lillie told police thought he already had dropped off his child and went about his normal routine until the 4:45 p.m. phone call.

In about half of the heatstroke cases, a parent or responsible party is charged in connection with a child's death, said Amber Rollins, director and volunteer manager of KidsAndCars.org. The nonprofit child safety organization monitors news sites and police reports involving children and vehicle accidents.

The group has more difficulty following a case to its conclusion, but in almost 500 incidents where their volunteers were able to determine the outcome about a third resulted in convictions.

"She's been in the car for hours, and I absolutely forgot about her," Lillie said in a 9-1-1 call. "She's not alive."

Anna Marie was the 12^th death in the United States so far this year of a child who succumbed to heat stroke in a vehicle, according to KidsAndCars.org.

A 22-month-old boy, Cooper Harris, died that Wednesday in Atlanta in the back seat of his father's sport utility vehicle, becoming the 13^th death. (Mock thread on that case here: http://mockforums.net/showthread.php?tid=11257)

The National Safety Council recommends that parents leave something in the back seat of their vehicle that they need for work or their errands, such as a briefcase, purse or cellphone, to serve as a reminder of a child in a car seat. KidsAndCars.org suggests keeping a stuffed animal in a child's car seat to put in the front passenger seat as a reminder when a parent is transporting the baby.

The number of deaths from children being left in cars began to climb in the late 1990s when officials realized that front-seat airbags were killing kids in wrecks and a movement began to put kids in the back, Rollins said.

"Children absolutely are safer in the back seat," she said. "But one of the unintended consequences is that children were being forgotten.
Ref: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio.../11087783/
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Unlike Justin Ross Harris, this father responded to a call from the caregivers (the grandparents, in this case) when the baby didn't arrive as planned. Harris did not respond to the email his daycare facility sent when his son didn't arrive as expected.

Unlike Justin Ross Harris, this father called 911 and was inconsolable at the death of his daughter (rather than focused on how it would impact HIM).

But, Anne Marie is just as dead as Cooper Harris, even though LE doesn't believe her father had any intent whatsoever to harm her. They are leaving it to a jury to decide his punishment.

(Edit, link)

[Carsman]

This tragedy is happening much too frequently!

Maybe, the law to only have the child in the rear seat of a vehicle for it's own safety, needs to be revisited.

(Hard to forget a child sitting next to you.)

[Cynical Ninja]

I wouldn't leave a dog unattended in a car much less a kid.

[HairOfTheDog]

Maybe, the law to only have the child in the rear seat of a vehicle for it's own safety, needs to be revisited.

(Hard to forget a child sitting next to you.)

I thought the same thing and researched it a little last week, Cars.

From what I gather, there are still a lot fewer deaths (or potential deaths) from forgetting kids in the hot car than from passenger side airbags going off and crushing a child to death. There aren't really reliable stats on the airbag deaths, though.

I did read a while back that vehicle manufacturers are working on future airbags that can detect the size of the passenger and inflate proportionally, but I don't know how close those smart airbags are to reality and/or market.

[Carsman]

Maybe, the law to only have the child in the rear seat of a vehicle for it's own safety, needs to be revisited.

(Hard to forget a child sitting next to you.)

I thought the same thing and researched it a little last week, Cars.

From what I gather, there are still a lot fewer deaths (or potential deaths) from forgetting kids in the hot car than from passenger side airbags going off and crushing a child to death. There aren't really reliable stats on the airbag deaths, though.

I did read a while back that vehicle manufacturers are working on future airbags that can detect the size of the passenger and inflate proportionally, but I don't know how close those smart airbags are to reality and/or market.

Unfortunately, you were right, fewer forgotten kids deaths, VS front seat deaths. Found link below.

http://consumer.georgia.gov/consumer-top...-car-seats

Actually, my newer car front passenger seat has a sensor to determine if someone is sitting in it. If no one is sitting in it, "Airbag Off" is lit up on dashboard display panel. So maybe the sensors in cars of the future can be set to recognize a "child's seat" is strapped into the front seatbelt buckle.

[HairOfTheDog]

According to the national statistics, about 30% of kids who die in hot cars get trapped in them while playing unsupervised.

I was hoping this child was gonna make it. He died yesterday morning.



Logan Cox (RIP), a 3-year-old who was trapped last Wednesday in a hot car in Lancaster, South Carolina, died Sunday, according to an official at Carolinas Medical Center.

His parents, Amber Bender and Trevor Cox, are still in shock.

Logan suffered severe heat stroke when he walked outside while they dozed off on the couch last Wednesday and climbed into a car with his dog. He couldn't get back out of the car.

After about 30 minutes his mother woke up, yelling for him. “I jumped up, I screamed, I screamed his name. I was like, 'Logan! Logan,' looking everywhere,” Bender said.

She saw the blinkers on her car flashing, and found the boy inside, passed out. His dog (a 9-year-old Basset Hound) was with him and already dead. She got him inside, and he was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center.

Bender said people who are lashing out at her, don't know her. "I just want people to stop judging me. I am a very good mother,” Bender said.

Both parents said it was a terrible accident. Sheriff's deputies and the Department of Social Services are still investigating.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/07...7sBbbHYNrs

[Duchess]

Prosecutors in Utah will not seek criminal charges against the woman whose 11-month-daughter died after being left in her car in 90-degree heat for hours.

Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said going after April Suwyn for the Aug. 1 death of little Skyah 'is not in the interest of justice,' KSTU reported.

'Because the purpose of the criminal justice system is to penalize a conscious wrongdoer, justice will not be served prosecuting April Suwyn, because she was not blameworthy of mind,' Belnap wrote, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

'The evidence shows that April was a loving, thoughtful caregiver who was operating under lack of sleep, changed routine, and stress.'

Baby Skyah was just one week short of her first birthday when Suwyn broke her normal routine and brought her beloved daughter along in the car to drop off her two young sons with a babysitter.

But the urgent need to use the restroom meant April parked her car and rushed back into her home, leaving Skyah behind in the hot parked car.

It was only when she went back to the car around 1pm that she noticed her grave mistake.

Paramedics life-flighted Skyah in extremely critical condition to Dixie Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

Neither April nor her husband Micah have made statements regarding their only daughter's death, but Suwyn's sister Aimee Wright said the tragedy was an accident.

Prosecutors agreed.

'Rather than abandoning Skyah, [Suwyn] acted under the erroneous belief that Skyah was napping safely in her bedroom crib,' Belnap wrote.

The prosecutor added, 'an unconscious lapse of awareness is substantially different than a conscious decision to leave a baby in a car.'



Story

[Cheyne]

'Because the purpose of the criminal justice system is to penalize a conscious wrongdoer, justice will not be served prosecuting April Suwyn, because she was not blameworthy of mind,' Belnap wrote, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

It shouldn't matter if someone is "blameworthy of mind" (whatever that means), April Suwyn was negligent in the care of her daughter Skyah and directly caused her death, period.


The prosecutor added, 'an unconscious lapse of awareness is substantially different than a conscious decision to leave a baby in a car.'

Isn't that why we charge with Manslaughter?

Involuntary manslaughter arises where the accused did not intend to cause death or serious injury, but caused the death of another through recklessness or criminal negligence.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's interesting how these cases are handled in different states.



The Connecticut medical examiner has ruled the death of a 15-month-old boy who was left in his father's car in July a homicide. Despite the medical examiner's ruling, the decision about whether to press criminal charges is made by the state's attorney, said CNN Legal Analyst Paul Callan.

"The use of the word 'homicide' in an autopsy report, though often seen in connection with criminal cases, does not necessarily mean that criminal charges will be lodged against the father," Callan said.

"In legal parlance, the term means that death was caused by another human being rather than by strictly natural causes," he added.

The cause of Benjamin Seitz's death (RIP) was hyperthermia because of environmental exposure, the state medical examiner said on Wednesday.

On July 7, Kyle Seitz was supposed to drop his son off at day care in Ridgefield, Connecticut, but the drop-off never occurred.

Seitz drove to work, and at the end of the day he went to pick Ben up at day care, only to realize he was not there. That was when Seitz found his son in the car. He rushed the child to the hospital, but Ben had died.

No criminal charges have been announced in the boy's death, but state prosecutors said Wednesday that the criminal investigation is "ongoing."

"The autopsy report is one factor to be considered by the state's attorney in the evaluation of the incident once the investigation is complete," a statement released by State's Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky said.

Full story: http://us.cnn.com/2014/08/21/justice/chi...hpt=ju_mid
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I'd be shocked if Justin Ross Cooper's attorney doesn't use this case to support his client's claim that he left his son Cooper in the car the whole work day by accident and that there was no intent involved in Cooper's homicide -- the cases are almost identical in circumstances.

Well, except AFAIK, Seitz didn't look up information about hot car deaths, child free living, and wasn't juggling multiple sext partners before and during his son's death.

[HairOfTheDog]

West Virginia

How did grams forget about one child for 7 hours while she watched his sibling all day long?



^ 67-year-old Carolyn Davis is charged with child neglect resulting in death following the April 5 death of her great-grandson in Mason County, West Virginia.

Authorities say Davis dropped the child's mother off at work and then went back to her home on Lighthouse Lane with her great-grandson and his four-year-old sibling.

Davis got the 4-year-old out of the car, but left her great-grandson still inside and strapped into his car seat, police say. The 19-month-old was left in the car with all of the windows rolled up from 7:30am to around 2:30pm.

Temperatures ranged from 120 to 140 degrees inside of the vehicle as it was around 81 degrees outside that day, police say. Davis returned to the car with the 4-year-old to go pick up their mother from work with the boy still strapped in the car seat.

The mother immediately noticed her son was unresponsive and when she picked him up he was stiff. Authorities say they believe Davis knew the child was dead, but that she didn't want to be the person who called 911 to report it.

Davis's house was reportedly a pig sty, but authorities say there was nothing to indicate she wasn't a capable caregiver and she had watched both children before. They reportedly don't believe that she intentionally left the 19-month-old in the car.

Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...t-car.html

[ramseycat]

She fucking left that kid on purpose. How do you not notice he's not there when you're taking care if the brother?? Plus he was probably crying in the van.

[HairOfTheDog]

She fucking left that kid on purpose. How do you not notice he's not there when you're taking care if the brother?? Plus he was probably crying in the van.

I think you're probably right. Odd statement from the police below; the house was so filthy that LE figured the best place for the 19-month-old was the filthy car. Sounds like she'd left the baby in the car all day before. That doesn't sound like a suitable caregiver, if you ask me.

Snip:
Police don't believe Davis intentionally left the child in the car.

"She was able to live by herself and take care of herself up to this point," Cpl. A.B. Ward with WV State Police said. "Nothing would indicate she wasn't able to take care of the children. She'd taken care of them months prior to this."

"We really believe with the shape the house was in, that the best place for the baby was probably the car for the great-grandmother to leave him there," Lt. Shawn Ross with the Point Pleasant Police Department said, "and it had been cool since she's had the child since January. This happened to be a hot day, and it just got too hot."

According to police, the inside of the car was in extremely filthy condition as was the home. Davis was picked up by authorities on May 5 in Ohio.

http://www.wsaz.com/content/news/Great-g...15963.html

[AshleyCuneo]

What a story! I don't even know what to say! I'd never leave kids in the car! It's dangerous !