Here in Vegas this happens quite frequently:
Parents forgeting they left their kids in the car and slowing baking them at about 180-200 degrees.
It amazes me how often this happens, and a parent will respond
" I forgot I left him/her in the car"
No charges filed
What stops a parent from doing this on purpose or by throwing the child in a swimming pool? Easy way to "rid" yourself of your children and walk away free.
I don't know what the $%&# !!!
Ok and I forgot to stop at the red light, flinging some, now lifelesss, body 300 feet.
Now I get charged (example only)
I would like to hear some of your opinions on this....
Are these parents on drugs or what ?
-------------------------------------------
Saturday, June 30, 2001
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal
Forgotten baby dies in sweltering car
By J.M. KALIL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A 6-month-old boy left by his parents in a car for more than five hours Friday died of extreme heat exposure, the second time in six weeks Las Vegas' sweltering desert climate has claimed the life of an infant abandoned in a vehicle.
Police said the parents forgot to drop the boy off at a day care center before they went to work near Interstate 215 and Warm Springs Road about 8 a.m., on what would later be recorded as the hottest day of the year.
By afternoon -- when the parents discovered their son still strapped into a child-safety seat in their employer's parking lot -- efforts at resuscitation were futile, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky said.
"This is about as bad a call as you can get. It was an extremely disturbing scene," La-Sky said. "There was nothing the parents could do by the time they remembered."
Detectives from Las Vegas police's Abuse and Neglect Detail were still questioning the parents, whose names were not released, and taking statements from co-workers Friday afternoon, but police said the baby's death appeared to be an accident.
"We are humans, and humans make mistakes," said Lt. Tom Monahan.
A recent change in the parents' schedules may have been a deadly factor for the forgotten baby. The parents told police they usually drop the infant off at a day care center and then take their 4-year-old child to another day care center. They told police they took the 4-year-old first on Friday, and then drove to work.
Police and paramedics were called about 1:20 p.m. to URS Corp., an engineering firm at 7115 Amigo St., where both parents work, Sgt. Mike Thompson said. The mother had called her baby's day care center to check on him, then realized she couldn't remember dropping him off there. She ran outside and found her child unresponsive inside the car.
Thompson said URS personnel tried to revive the infant with cardiopulmonary resuscitation before emergency crews arrived.
"The child had been dead for awhile, it appears," La-Sky said. He described the scene inside URS as frantic, and said "a lot of tears were being shed."
Thompson said the child's seat was one designed to face the rear of the vehicle, which may have prevented passersby from noticing the dying baby.
About an hour after the child was pronounced dead and placed inside an ambulance, several people stood outside the business, embracing and comforting one another. The company let employees go home early, La-Sky said.
After police investigators finish their probe, the case will be forwarded to the Clark County District Attorney's office for prosecutors to determine if criminal charges are warranted, Thompson said. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
County prosecutors decided earlier this month not to prosecute Las Vegan Faun Nelson in the death of her 9-month-old son Dallas, who suffered fatal heat exposure May 22 after his mother left him in a sport utility vehicle for about two hours. In 1996, the mother of a 3-month-old Las Vegas girl was not prosecuted after the woman forgot that the baby was in the rear of her car for more than a day.
La-Sky said the temperature inside a white car with dark interior, like the one involved in Friday's incident, can be twice as hot as the temperature is outside. Less than an hour after the baby's discovery, the National Weather Service recorded a high temperature of 108 degrees in Las Vegas.
"Obviously, that's incompatible with a child's life, much less an adult's," La-Sky said.
Pediatric studies show heat stroke can occur in children exposed to 105 degree temperatures for prolonged periods, and that temperatures as low as 110 degrees can be fatal.
-----------------------------------
Tuesday, June 05, 2001
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal
No charges to result from baby left in car
Though mother was negligent, prosecuting her would serve no purpose, authorities say
By GLENN PUIT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A woman whose baby died of heat exposure after being left in a vehicle will not face criminal charges because her actions were not intentional, Clark County prosecutors have decided.
"It appears to be a horrible accident," Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Bloxham said Monday of the reason why Las Vegan Faun Nelson will not be charged in the May 22 death of her 9-month-old son, Dallas.
Bloxham said the events leading up to the death -- which included neighbors hearing what might have been the boy's screams for help -- started shortly before noon that day when Nelson drove her Dodge Durango from her home in Las Vegas to her sister's house in the 2400 block of Bahama Point Avenue. Her intent was to drop off Dallas and her other son, Kade Nelson, 23 months, and then go to lunch with a family friend identified by authorities as Lanae Wilson.
Wilson, traveling in a separate vehicle, also had two children with her. According to the memo, the two mothers stopped at a McDonald's restaurant to get the children some food, and then proceeded to Nelson's sister's home to drop off the children.
When they arrived at the home of Nelson's sister, Erin Joilfs, Nelson parked her vehicle in the driveway. As they left the vehicle, Bloxham said, Nelson's toddler ran away from the group, and Nelson retrieved him.
She took the toddler and the food into her sister's house.
"This momentary distraction apparently added to the confusion," Bloxham said.
Nelson and Wilson then left for lunch. While away, as many as three people in the neighborhood where Dallas Nelson was injured might have heard the boy crying, Bloxham said.
Because they did not know exactly what the cries were, those neighbors did not investigate what are now believed to be the baby's screams for help.
"Some described it as what they thought was a wild animal crying," Bloxham said. "They couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from."
Nelson and Wilson returned to the home near Lone Mountain Road and Simmons Street at 2:30 p.m.
"Faun (Nelson) immediately went upstairs to retrieve Dallas and (her toddler) and found that Dallas was not in the house," Bloxham said. "Both Faun (and her sister) ran to the Durango and recovered Dallas."
They immediately called 911 and tried to lower the baby's high temperature. Paramedics arrived, worked on the boy for 20 minutes and then rushed him to University Medical Center.
"The child's temperature at the hospital was reported to be 106 and the child was reported to be having seizures," Bloxham said.
The baby was removed from life support two days later. An autopsy at the county coroner's office determined the baby died from extreme heat exposure, and the death was ruled an accident.
The autopsy showed no prior signs of abuse.
Bloxham said that at the time the baby suffered his injuries, the highest outside temperature was about 99 degrees. A little more than an hour after the baby was pulled from the vehicle, the temperature inside the vehicle was 137 degrees.
"Faun Nelson was extremely distraught and upset throughout," Bloxham said. "(She) has cooperated to the best of her ability with all requests for information."
State law defines child abuse or neglect as intentional physical or mental abuse, and, Bloxham said, by no means were Nelson's acts intentional.
"It is a fluke, tragic accident," Bloxham said.
The prosecutor also said that while Nelson might have engaged in some negligence, prosecuting her would serve no purpose.
"If you were the person that this happened to, you would be devastated and could barely go on with life. ... They will punish themselves more than any court could do," Bloxham said.
The decision not to prosecute falls in line with local and national trends for similar cases.
In 1996, the mother of a 3-month-old Las Vegas girl was not prosecuted after the woman forgot that the baby was in the rear of her car for more than a day.
Nationwide, at least 135 children have died in vehicles because of heat exposure, according to Anora Guard, the director of information for the Boston University School of Public Health. About 25 percent of those deaths are children who climbed into vehicles on their own and could not get out, but most are children accidentally left in vehicles by their parents.
Guard, who has spent several years researching such child fatalities, said she is unaware of a single case such as Nelson's that was prosecuted.
"There have been a few cases where authorities attempted to bring charges and a grand jury failed to indict," Guard said.
Despite extensive news coverage of cases such as Dallas Nelson's, the tragedy of babies being left in cars continues to repeat itself across the country, Guard said.
She believes that increased educational programs combined with new technology -- such as car seats that alert parents when they have failed to remove their child from a vehicle as a car door is being closed -- could dramatically reduce the number of deaths.
Guard said a bill is pending in California that would allow police to cite a parent with the equivalent of a traffic ticket for leaving a child in a car unattended. She said that endeavor might prove to be a good idea and raise public awareness, but a full-fledged felony prosecution of parents such as Nelson makes little sense.
"People get prosecuted for shaken baby syndrome, and babies are still dying from that," she said.
[This message has been edited by Senor Capper (edited 07-05-2001).]
Parents forgeting they left their kids in the car and slowing baking them at about 180-200 degrees.
It amazes me how often this happens, and a parent will respond
" I forgot I left him/her in the car"
No charges filed
What stops a parent from doing this on purpose or by throwing the child in a swimming pool? Easy way to "rid" yourself of your children and walk away free.
I don't know what the $%&# !!!
Ok and I forgot to stop at the red light, flinging some, now lifelesss, body 300 feet.
Now I get charged (example only)
I would like to hear some of your opinions on this....
Are these parents on drugs or what ?
-------------------------------------------
Saturday, June 30, 2001
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal
Forgotten baby dies in sweltering car
By J.M. KALIL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A 6-month-old boy left by his parents in a car for more than five hours Friday died of extreme heat exposure, the second time in six weeks Las Vegas' sweltering desert climate has claimed the life of an infant abandoned in a vehicle.
Police said the parents forgot to drop the boy off at a day care center before they went to work near Interstate 215 and Warm Springs Road about 8 a.m., on what would later be recorded as the hottest day of the year.
By afternoon -- when the parents discovered their son still strapped into a child-safety seat in their employer's parking lot -- efforts at resuscitation were futile, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky said.
"This is about as bad a call as you can get. It was an extremely disturbing scene," La-Sky said. "There was nothing the parents could do by the time they remembered."
Detectives from Las Vegas police's Abuse and Neglect Detail were still questioning the parents, whose names were not released, and taking statements from co-workers Friday afternoon, but police said the baby's death appeared to be an accident.
"We are humans, and humans make mistakes," said Lt. Tom Monahan.
A recent change in the parents' schedules may have been a deadly factor for the forgotten baby. The parents told police they usually drop the infant off at a day care center and then take their 4-year-old child to another day care center. They told police they took the 4-year-old first on Friday, and then drove to work.
Police and paramedics were called about 1:20 p.m. to URS Corp., an engineering firm at 7115 Amigo St., where both parents work, Sgt. Mike Thompson said. The mother had called her baby's day care center to check on him, then realized she couldn't remember dropping him off there. She ran outside and found her child unresponsive inside the car.
Thompson said URS personnel tried to revive the infant with cardiopulmonary resuscitation before emergency crews arrived.
"The child had been dead for awhile, it appears," La-Sky said. He described the scene inside URS as frantic, and said "a lot of tears were being shed."
Thompson said the child's seat was one designed to face the rear of the vehicle, which may have prevented passersby from noticing the dying baby.
About an hour after the child was pronounced dead and placed inside an ambulance, several people stood outside the business, embracing and comforting one another. The company let employees go home early, La-Sky said.
After police investigators finish their probe, the case will be forwarded to the Clark County District Attorney's office for prosecutors to determine if criminal charges are warranted, Thompson said. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
County prosecutors decided earlier this month not to prosecute Las Vegan Faun Nelson in the death of her 9-month-old son Dallas, who suffered fatal heat exposure May 22 after his mother left him in a sport utility vehicle for about two hours. In 1996, the mother of a 3-month-old Las Vegas girl was not prosecuted after the woman forgot that the baby was in the rear of her car for more than a day.
La-Sky said the temperature inside a white car with dark interior, like the one involved in Friday's incident, can be twice as hot as the temperature is outside. Less than an hour after the baby's discovery, the National Weather Service recorded a high temperature of 108 degrees in Las Vegas.
"Obviously, that's incompatible with a child's life, much less an adult's," La-Sky said.
Pediatric studies show heat stroke can occur in children exposed to 105 degree temperatures for prolonged periods, and that temperatures as low as 110 degrees can be fatal.
-----------------------------------
Tuesday, June 05, 2001
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal
No charges to result from baby left in car
Though mother was negligent, prosecuting her would serve no purpose, authorities say
By GLENN PUIT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A woman whose baby died of heat exposure after being left in a vehicle will not face criminal charges because her actions were not intentional, Clark County prosecutors have decided.
"It appears to be a horrible accident," Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Bloxham said Monday of the reason why Las Vegan Faun Nelson will not be charged in the May 22 death of her 9-month-old son, Dallas.
Bloxham said the events leading up to the death -- which included neighbors hearing what might have been the boy's screams for help -- started shortly before noon that day when Nelson drove her Dodge Durango from her home in Las Vegas to her sister's house in the 2400 block of Bahama Point Avenue. Her intent was to drop off Dallas and her other son, Kade Nelson, 23 months, and then go to lunch with a family friend identified by authorities as Lanae Wilson.
Wilson, traveling in a separate vehicle, also had two children with her. According to the memo, the two mothers stopped at a McDonald's restaurant to get the children some food, and then proceeded to Nelson's sister's home to drop off the children.
When they arrived at the home of Nelson's sister, Erin Joilfs, Nelson parked her vehicle in the driveway. As they left the vehicle, Bloxham said, Nelson's toddler ran away from the group, and Nelson retrieved him.
She took the toddler and the food into her sister's house.
"This momentary distraction apparently added to the confusion," Bloxham said.
Nelson and Wilson then left for lunch. While away, as many as three people in the neighborhood where Dallas Nelson was injured might have heard the boy crying, Bloxham said.
Because they did not know exactly what the cries were, those neighbors did not investigate what are now believed to be the baby's screams for help.
"Some described it as what they thought was a wild animal crying," Bloxham said. "They couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from."
Nelson and Wilson returned to the home near Lone Mountain Road and Simmons Street at 2:30 p.m.
"Faun (Nelson) immediately went upstairs to retrieve Dallas and (her toddler) and found that Dallas was not in the house," Bloxham said. "Both Faun (and her sister) ran to the Durango and recovered Dallas."
They immediately called 911 and tried to lower the baby's high temperature. Paramedics arrived, worked on the boy for 20 minutes and then rushed him to University Medical Center.
"The child's temperature at the hospital was reported to be 106 and the child was reported to be having seizures," Bloxham said.
The baby was removed from life support two days later. An autopsy at the county coroner's office determined the baby died from extreme heat exposure, and the death was ruled an accident.
The autopsy showed no prior signs of abuse.
Bloxham said that at the time the baby suffered his injuries, the highest outside temperature was about 99 degrees. A little more than an hour after the baby was pulled from the vehicle, the temperature inside the vehicle was 137 degrees.
"Faun Nelson was extremely distraught and upset throughout," Bloxham said. "(She) has cooperated to the best of her ability with all requests for information."
State law defines child abuse or neglect as intentional physical or mental abuse, and, Bloxham said, by no means were Nelson's acts intentional.
"It is a fluke, tragic accident," Bloxham said.
The prosecutor also said that while Nelson might have engaged in some negligence, prosecuting her would serve no purpose.
"If you were the person that this happened to, you would be devastated and could barely go on with life. ... They will punish themselves more than any court could do," Bloxham said.
The decision not to prosecute falls in line with local and national trends for similar cases.
In 1996, the mother of a 3-month-old Las Vegas girl was not prosecuted after the woman forgot that the baby was in the rear of her car for more than a day.
Nationwide, at least 135 children have died in vehicles because of heat exposure, according to Anora Guard, the director of information for the Boston University School of Public Health. About 25 percent of those deaths are children who climbed into vehicles on their own and could not get out, but most are children accidentally left in vehicles by their parents.
Guard, who has spent several years researching such child fatalities, said she is unaware of a single case such as Nelson's that was prosecuted.
"There have been a few cases where authorities attempted to bring charges and a grand jury failed to indict," Guard said.
Despite extensive news coverage of cases such as Dallas Nelson's, the tragedy of babies being left in cars continues to repeat itself across the country, Guard said.
She believes that increased educational programs combined with new technology -- such as car seats that alert parents when they have failed to remove their child from a vehicle as a car door is being closed -- could dramatically reduce the number of deaths.
Guard said a bill is pending in California that would allow police to cite a parent with the equivalent of a traffic ticket for leaving a child in a car unattended. She said that endeavor might prove to be a good idea and raise public awareness, but a full-fledged felony prosecution of parents such as Nelson makes little sense.
"People get prosecuted for shaken baby syndrome, and babies are still dying from that," she said.
[This message has been edited by Senor Capper (edited 07-05-2001).]
