1-year-old Tenn. boy left in car dies-- WTF is wrong with people??

[Whoa_Nelly]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Toddler_Heat_Death.html

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A 1-year-old boy died after being left alone in a car for hours as temperatures soared into the 80s, and his father was charged with negligent homicide, police said.

Timothy Reid was found unresponsive by his father, Robert Reid, Tuesday afternoon, nearly seven hours after Reid had parked the car and went to work. Emergency workers pronounced the toddler dead at the scene and said the temperature inside the car was 142 degrees.

Reid, 43, was charged with criminally negligent homicide and aggravated child abuse and neglect, Lt. Tim Carroll said Wednesday.

<snip>
Police said Reid took his three other children, ages 6, 10 and 12, to school Tuesday morning and had intended to take Timothy to day care before driving to work.

<snip>
"You can forget to pick up a gallon of milk, but you don't forget you left a 15-month-old in your car," Carroll said.

The outside temperature Tuesday reached 89 degrees, just one degree shy of a record for the date, according to the National Weather Service.



:grr: :wtf: :mad:

[sharp_stick]

I know, it's downright unbelievable

but I still put my computer bag right in front of my daughters car seat everyday when I go to work. Even if she isn't in the car, I have to open her door and look in there to get my bag.

[LostinVA]

5. It's happened before, and it hasn't been murder, just tragic mistake

:sigh:

[Gormy Cuss]

8. It's high time that autos were redesigned to allow car seats in the front seat.

Pretty much never happened by mistake back in the old days when babies rode up front. It is so easy for someone juggling a bunch of tasks to forget one, and sometimes it's taking that sleeping baby out of the back seat. The parents have to live with that mistake for the rest of their lives.

:sigh:

[LostinVA]

20. My mom is a pediatric nurse, and agrees with you

[malaise]

13. It should not happen

but it can happen. A parent under the stress of reaching work on time can forget. A lot of people are socialized to be more loyal to job than family. Many need that job to keep the family together. People can be preoccupied.
He dropped the others to school. This poor man must be in horrific pain.

It's a horrible tragedy but who am I to judge him.

[LostinVA]

18. I know, it shouldn't, but it does

I remember the case last year -- I felt so bad for the mother.

[Robson]

30. I agree

There are cases of true child abuse in this country and they should be the ones held accountable. This was a tragic accident caused by a multi-tasking dad.

[malaise]

35. That simple

Now it is the same system (that has him more focussed on earning a living than on those for whom he's earning it) that will charge him with a crime. It's the fugging capitalist rat race that's the crime. I can't imagine the pain of that family right now.

[Beaverhausen]

1. Oh great- summer is coming. There will be plenty more of these stories I'm sure

[AndyA]

2. That same thing has happened here as well.

A teacher forgot her baby was in the car, and left it outside in the heat. If I remember correctly, the temp that day was in the mid-90s. The kid didn't last long.

It's sickening that people are so busy or whatever that they could forget something so important. Very sad.

[kimmerspixelated]

14. It is really nauseating to think about.

That a teacher would be so absent-minded is not a confidence builder.

[rhiannon55]

3. Oh, that poor baby

:cry:

[LiberalinNC]

4. These stories always make me sick...

What the fuck is wrong with people!!!

[mnhtnbb]

6. Twice, when my oldest was a baby, I locked the keys in the car

with him inside. I was in a panic until my husband brought a second set of keys--he was 10 minutes away. This was before cell phones. I had to walk away from the car to find a phone, and of course my son started crying when I left. I had a friend from a playgroup at the time who did the same thing and she had to have the fire department break a window
to get to her baby.

I solved the problem with the keys by always wearing something with pockets
and making myself put the keys in my pocket before shutting the car door.

This was in So. California in the late spring and it didn't take long for the car to start heating up.

These events happen every year. My heart goes out to the parent who lives
this nightmare of being responsible for the death of their own child.

[Der Blaue Engel]

12. Locking the baby in the car is different from just forgetting s/he's there

I've locked my kid in the car on accident, too, but noticed pretty much immediately that I was on the outside and my baby was trapped on the inside. I was distraught.

I suppose it's possible someone could simply be that absent-minded, and if the baby's asleep and not in plain view, maybe...but it's just so hard to understand that level of unmindfulness of one's own child. It makes me wonder whether there are substance abuse issues involved whenever I hear these stories.

[mnhtnbb]

19. My point is that you can be really distracted as a parent with an infant.

I had never in my life locked myself out of a car until I had a baby.

I also never drove a van, with a kid in a carseat that couldn't be viewed
from outside the car.

[Little Wing]

7. 142? Holy shit.

What a fucking dumbass who should have his nuts cut off in case he decides it's a good idea to try make a replacement kid.

[Warpy]

24. There is a difference between

intentionally leaving infants and toddlers in car while a parent spends the day drinking or gambling and an accident when a parent is rushed and forgets.

Lots of things could have made him such a "dumbass:" staying up with one or more sick or even just sleepless kids all night, overwork, worry, preoccupation with an upcoming stressful day.

I can't judge this man. My guess is that he will punish himself more than the justice system ever could.

[Little Wing]

36. yeah, I saw 142 and was quick to judge

18 more degrees and he'd have been safe to eat. it's an ugly thought about what that kid went through.

[SammyWinstonJack]

34. Nice!

:eyes:

[bigwillq]

9. How sad.

:(

[JVS]

10. Sometimes people make horrible mistakes

[hlthe2b]

11. These stories are so wrenching... Damn it, where ever did

so many Americans put their f__king common sense?

I am so paranoid of having my dog with me in the car and having her even be minimally uncomfortable, I keep a thermometer on the dash board for the winter time to gauge best because with her full hair coat, she can handle a bit more cold than I. HOWEVER, when it gets warm, I don't need the friggin thermometer because if it is WARM to me, it is undoubtedly deadly for her! CLosed cars are deadly! How can people not know this? :mad:

[BlueJazz]

15. This kind of stuff is bound to happen.

Overworked Parents
Job Stress
Worries about money, healthcare..etc

With (Appox.) 21 Million people dropping off their children at daycare,
it's fate that sometime, somewhere, somebody will have a brain overload.

I'm not making excuses for the Guy...I just understand how tragic events can happen..

[valerief]

16. He belongs in jail for manslaughter. nt

[ejbr]

17. Nothing can be said to make the father feel any worse

however, I am left to wonder whether the other children will hold guilt for the rest of their lives because they didn't remind daddy that their sibling was in the car.

[Lex]

21. Why would they feel guilty? The story says the Dad was to

drop the baby off last of all.

"Police said Reid took his three other children, ages 6, 10 and 12, to school Tuesday morning and had intended to take Timothy to day care before driving to work."

Good grief, they shouldn't feel guilty at all unless they are clairvoyent or something.

[ejbr]

25. They are 6,10 and 12

I doubt the father had a conversation with them as they were dropped off about how he was going to take care of the baby. I would guess that the kids assumed he knew the baby was in the car; obviously, he didn't. With a busy parent doing something that he might not normally do, the kids would more than likely to want to help in any way they could. In order to forget a child in a car, it must not have been something he did all the time. Knowing that he was busy and doing something that he did not do all the time, how easy would it have been for one of them to remind him? They are 6,10 and 12 years old and had the chance to keep this from happening. No, it is far from their fault, but they were the child's last line of defense. Now their father is in jail and their sibling is dead and all they needed to do is say "remember the baby". No, it is not their fault, but they are 6, 10 and 12 year olds. No there is no way that anyone could have foreseen it, but clairvoyence has nothing to do with it. I would bet that they will feel guilt for some time to come, whether you believe they should or not.

[laylah]

22. I have never been able

to understand how in the world a parent can forget they have a child in the car! :wtf: Bless his little heart. :cry:

[kimmerspixelated]

23. I might be able to understand

how you could forget a sleeping baby/child for a coupla minutes, tops! After that, I'm sorry, I don't understand! Now granted, I myself have forgotten things I never would have thought I would...age and hormones creaping up, but a child in the backseat, no way! To say that we are overstressed and so forth, I'm not sure I buy it. It would be interesting to see if maybe these parents are alcoholics or have suffered from side effects of prescription drugs.

[Igel]

31. I can understand.

I've driven the car with our young child in the car seat many a time. But my wife often has the child, so I'm driving the car with an empty car seat.

There's been a time or two when I've put the kid in the seat and been driving for 10-15 minutes and forgotten about him. I've been surprised to look in the rear-view mirror to see him sitting there, looking out the window.

Not an alcoholic. No prescription drugs. Just far too frazzled sometimes.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

26. WTF is wrong with people is that they're human

sometimes humans make colossal mistakes and ALL of us can make the same ones.

[SammyWinstonJack]

27. What a terrible tragedy. This family has been forever changed.

:-(

[kdmorris]

28. How awful...

What a horrible way to die! My heart still goes out to the father. I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose, and, as the mother of three children, I can say I have forgotten my child before. Not in the car. She wasn't even in any danger, but I was extremely tired and she had colic. I had my 2 1/2 year old daughter and my 3 week old daughter. Usually, I would put the 3 week old in her little car seat, then walk her and the 2 year old to the car, where I would fasten in the 2 year old in her car seat and then put the other car seat in and strap it in. This was the habit, I was getting no sleep and I was exhausted.

So, the 3 week old was finally sleeping in her bassinet and I didn't want to disturb her just then. I had to take my 2 year old to the doctor and I wasn't really looking forward to it. So, I decided to take the 2 year old out with the infant car seat (no baby in it as was the custom) and put as much stuff in the car as I could before I got the baby (bag, diapers, etc). I went ahead and put the infant car seat in and tossed all the other baby paraphernalia in.

I had forgotten the 2 year old's snacks, so I went back in, brought the two year old and my purse with me and strapped her in. Got in and drove off, with the 3 week old still asleep in the house in her bassinet. We only got maybe a mile when the two year old said "Mommy's, where's Heather?". For a couple of seconds, I really couldn't remember where I had left her and was terrified that I had left her sitting on top of the car or something equally horrifying.

Turned around quick, drove fast back to the house and got her (she was still asleep and never even knew she had been abandoned)

I know.. I know... I was tired and post partum, etc, and my baby was never in danger, but having been through that I find myself unable to judge this man for something that is going to haunt him forever.

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. ..

:hug:

[debbierlus]

39. It was compassionate of you to share that story.

[MissB]

29. With that many kids and one being young, yeah, I can see it.

I can't imagine doing it, but I can understand how sleep deprivation and a huge to-do list can turn your brain into mush.

Poor kids. All of them.

[Jennicut]

33. That is just terrible, I 'm sure the father has horrible guilt right now

As the mother of a near two and near three year old I have made some absent minded mistakes. One time I left the gate unlocked while we were all upstairs and then I went downstairs to get something. Luckily neither of my girls tried to go down the stairs. Another time our furnace was broken and it was freezing while we were waitng for it to be repared. We opened the oven to at least heat some of the house as it was the middle of winter. I walked out of the kitchen at one point and forgot to shut the gate. They could have gotten burned badly. Luckily my husband noticed it right away. We at least backed each other up. I'm sure this father was stressed about work and totally forgot. Just terrible for me to think about as my daughters are nearly the same age.

[and-justice-for-all]

37. Appalling! nt

[debbierlus]

38. It sounds as if he forgot the kid was in there!!!

Dropped the others off at school, went to work without dropping the others off at daycare, & didn't find him until he came back! I don't know how you forget your child is in the car, but maybe he was working huge amounts of hours or was under severe stress. The whole thing is a tragedy. I won't judge, I have no way of knowing what went on with the father. But, omg. That poor, poor, poor little baby...;(

[The_Wizard]

40. How does that happen?

I'm still new to fatherhood, 11 mons. I can't stop thinking of my daughter... and I got three on the way! I've had some days, due to lack of sleep, I've misplaced or forgotten stupid crap. Like putting on my glasses to find my glasses... this is sickening.

[Ilsa]

41. That was my husband's nightmare when the kids were little.

Not that he had to take them anywhere, but he was always afraid he'd get too wrapped up thinking about work and leave one of the kids in the car.

I feel sorry for that man and that poor baby.

[Ilsa]

42. Parents need to be calling one another to remind each other about

who has the baby so this doesn't happen.

[qanda]

43. What a terrible mistake to make

He will never live this down. He was trying to be a good father and he made one tragic mistake. My heart goes out to him, his wife and the other children. Most of all, my heart goes out to that poor baby who died a horrible death. I wish there was some type of system where the daycare would call if the kids don't arrive. Most people are required to call if they're not bringing the kids in, perhaps it would have saved this child's life if there was just one more layer of protection to help prevent this type of incidence.