Police say the mother returned to her car after work and discovered the child. People in the parking lot at the restaurant ran to help when they heard the mother scream and a passerby called 911.
Firefighters were unable to revive the child and pronounced the boy dead at 5:15 p.m.
Police spokesman Sgt. Joel Tranter said, "(The boy's mother) was visibly upset. She forgot the child was in the car until she unlocked it."
Are you trying to make it look deliberate? I mean, obviously the girl's not a rocket scientist but it seems evident this was unintentional.
No, nothing intentional.
PHOENIX -- A mother who left her 17-month-old son in the car for at least seven hours while she worked at a west Phoenix Hooters was charged with negligent homicide in the child's death.
Ashly Duchene, 22, was booked after investigators learned she had said she wanted her freedom more than her son.
"We're not saying this was a deliberate act yesterday, but that does give insight to her mindset that caring for her child was not her top priority," Phoenix Police Sgt. Joel Tranter told KTAR.
Tranter said family members told detectives that Duchene had made statements that she did not want to care for the child and wanted her freedom.
"It's also my understanding that other family members, perhaps, had taken the child away from her for brief periods of time," Tranter said. "They had concerns."
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Ashly Duchene
Just out of curiosity why does it “seem evident this unintentional”?