Five Year Old Dies In Hot Car

Della

Della

Well-known Member
Location
Ohio
https://nypost.com/2022/06/21/5-yea...-hot-car-as-temperatures-reached-100-degrees/

Apparently he was left in a rental car, strapped in an unfamiliar car seat he couldn't get himself out of. His mother and eight year old sister hopped out of the car and went inside for two to three hours before the mother noticed he was missing.

She says she was busy preparing for the eight year old's birthday celebration.

Let's see, 15 minutes to set the table with paper decorations, 30 minutes to make cup cakes, what else, blow up balloons? All the while never noticing someone wasn't around? I'll bet she was on the phone.
 

My DD told me about this one last night. Think about the impact of this on the 8yr old brother. Even if he doesn't internalize the way Mom and law enforcement are 'explaining' (nothing excuses it IMO) as meaning it is his fault, the cloud of his brother's death will likely hang over his birthday for long time.

The closest i ever came to forgetting any of my children anywhere was during the first few weeks when i was still breastfeeding the twins. Every 2-2.5 hrs, first one then the other. They slept together in a huge (normal crib size) cradle their Dad had built. With in 2 weeks i was seriously sleep deprived. About 6 weeks in, i woke with start. Tho it was quiet, i could not REMEMBER putting the one who ate second back in bed so i got up and checked, they were safe. After that, since i usually used bathroom before returningt to bed, i would double check before going back to bed.

When kids were able to unbuckle and exit car alone i always waited for them before entering house. Even when boys were in early teens, one kept track of their sister(8yrs younger) and both helped bring groceries in and i'd wait till they were at entrance to go in myself if they didn't beat me there.
 
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Della said:
https://nypost.com/2022/06/21/5-yea...-hot-car-as-temperatures-reached-100-degrees/

Apparently he was left in a rental car, strapped in an unfamiliar car seat he couldn't get himself out of. His mother and eight year old sister hopped out of the car and went inside for two to three hours before the mother noticed he was missing.

She says she was busy preparing for the eight year old's birthday celebration.

Let's see, 15 minutes to set the table with paper decorations, 30 minutes to make cup cakes, what else, blow up balloons? All the while never noticing someone wasn't around? I'll bet she was on the phone.
Click to expand...
how odd that the 8 year old didn't notice the sibling was missing
 
hollydolly said:
how odd that the 8 year old didn't notice the sibling was missing
Click to expand...
I expect she was in full party excitement and glad little brother wasn't getting in her way.
I feel so sorry for her, she will never have a birthday that doesn't include this horrific memory.

I once heard a neurologist explain how tragically easy it is for those people who forget the child is in the back of the car when it's contrary to routine. Say mom always takes the baby to daycare, but she's got an appt so they buckle up the baby in the back of dad's car and he heads off to work with the understanding that he will drop baby off this time. Only once he gets in traffic and starts thinking about his job his brain defaults to the usual routine and drives right past the turnoff to the daycare, parks and goes into work.

So now I have sympathy for those cases, but I think this woman was just so focused on giving a big showy party to impress the other mothers that she didn't have space in her head for anything else.

I usually spend two hours decorating the house for Christmas. I can't imagine 3 hours prep for a child's birthday party. In any case, while you're icing those cupcakes, wouldn't you notice the five year-old wasn't there?

A young woman in our town had friends over (smoking pot) and didn't check on her two year old boy who was outside playing with some slightly older children. He wandered out of sight and drowned in a pond. She is in prison for negligent homicide.
 
No I don't believe that the mother could forget a 5 year old... this isn't a new baby she's not used to having.. when she's in the store or at home, she has 2 children... one 5 and one 8 who would be chatting , and running around .. how could she forget one for 3 hours... nothing to remind her in the toy store of her 5 year old, at no time did her 5 year old cross her mind while in the store ?... no this doesn't wash with me at all...
 
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hollydolly said:
how odd that the 8 year old didn't notice the sibling was missing
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Actually, the 8 year old probably did notice the sibling was missing.
Everyone I tell this story to LOL's:
When I was around 7, my mom would take my brother & I with her to a discount market 25 miles away. My brother & I were in the back seat.
After shopping, we got home, my mom looked in the back seat & asked me, "Where's your brother?"
I said, "He's at the market."
My mom got panicky & asked, "Why didn't you tell me he wasn't in the car?"
I said, "I thought we were supposed to leave him there, I don't like him." (he was not a nice kid)
When we got back to the market, he was with the parking attendant's booth, crying. I remember thinking, "For someone who likes to hurt people, he sure cries a lot when he's hurt."
 
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hollydolly said:
I can... no-one genuinely forgets a child in a car on a hot day.. IMO>...
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I tend to agree here ...... perhaps she did not want to bothered with two in the store ?

If forgotten ? Someone locally came up with just a grand idea .... put something IMPORTANT in the back seat with the child .... purse/cell phone,etc I ask ..... what the hell is more important than your child ?!?!?!?
 
[He wasn't left in the car at the store, it was after they got home that he was left outside the house in the car.]

I'm with RGP on manslaughter, but I also agree with Helen that her phone should be checked. If she was on the phone most of that time it looks even worse for her and her, "I was busy with party preparations" excuse.
 
https://nypost.com/2022/06/21/5-yea...-hot-car-as-temperatures-reached-100-degrees/


I will not pass judgement on this mother without knowing all the facts of this horrible and avoidable tragedy. Kids aged 5 - 8 often barely wait for a car to stop before bolting out the door.

Yes, your child is the most important thing in the car, but it isn't a bad idea to have your purse or briefcase or lunch in the back with them. If they are asleep, as many children are on rides, they are more likely to be forgotten when the adult has other pressing things on their mind - that's reality. So, perhaps, when folks lock their door, taking a headcount should be routine.

It's too late for this child, but Texas did respond with good advice:

"A day after the boy’s death, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office tweeted tips to teach children car safety — including teaching them how to unbuckle their car seat, honk the horn, turn on the hazards and unlock the front doors.

The advisory came with the note that this month is on track to be the hottest June on record.

The 5-year-old is the fifth child in the U.S. to die from heatstroke after being left in a car this year, according to meteorologist Jan Null, who has been tracking such deaths since 1998.

His death is also the second such fatal incident in less than a week. Last Thursday, a 3-month-old baby died after he was left in a hot car for several hours in Pennsylvania.

The temperature in a car can reach over 115 degrees when the outside temperature is just 70 degrees, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Since 1998, 912 children have died in hot cars. In most instances, they were forgotten by a parent or caregiver."
 
win231 said:
Actually, the 8 year old probably did notice the sibling was missing.
Everyone I tell this story to LOL's:
When I was around 7, my mom would take my brother & I with her to a discount market 25 miles away. My brother & I were in the back seat.
After shopping, we got home, my mom looked in the back seat & asked me, "Where's your brother?"
I said, "He's at the market."
My mom got panicky & asked, "Why didn't you tell me he wasn't in the car?"
I said, "I thought we were supposed to leave him there, I don't like him." (he was not a nice kid)
When we got back to the market, he was with the parking attendant's booth, crying.
Click to expand...
Was he any nicer after that??
 
Della said:
https://nypost.com/2022/06/21/5-yea...-hot-car-as-temperatures-reached-100-degrees/

Apparently he was left in a rental car, strapped in an unfamiliar car seat he couldn't get himself out of. His mother and eight year old sister hopped out of the car and went inside for two to three hours before the mother noticed he was missing.

She says she was busy preparing for the eight year old's birthday celebration.

Let's see, 15 minutes to set the table with paper decorations, 30 minutes to make cup cakes, what else, blow up balloons? All the while never noticing someone wasn't around? I'll bet she was on the phone.
Click to expand...
FOOL.
 
I've never understood how you could "forget" you have a child in the car. We heard so many sad stories of children being left in hot cars when we lived in AZ. No one was ever held responsible. Parents always got off. Just like the father that drove his Jeep through a flooded area with 4 children and his wife. All children drowned. He was charged but got off.
 
feywon said:
Was he any nicer after that??
Click to expand...
No. As an adult, he became a racist, thief, con artist, deadbeat dad & convicted felon.
He's our parents' "mistake." A true example of nature's carelessness. And the only reason our parents got married. Back in the 50's if you got a woman pregnant, you had to marry her.
 

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