Posted on 08/08/2019 12:07:10 AM PDT by csvset
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 70-year-old man camping in a Walmart parking lot put a hot cook stove in his van, causing it to catch fire and spread to another van, burning two young sisters and killing one of them, authorities said Wednesday.
Prosecutors charged Roberto Lino Hipolito of Long Beach, California, with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of negligent fire, all felonies.
According to the complaint, Hipolito and his wife slept overnight in their van outside a Walmart in Fridley, Minnesota, a northern Minneapolis suburb. Surveillance video shows Hipolito cooking something on the stove, then putting it in the van before going into the store.
The van caught fire and spread to an adjacent van where police say two girls were alone up to an hour Tuesday morning as their mother shopped at the store.
Six-year-old Ty'rah White died Tuesday night while being treated at HCMC in Minneapolis, Anoka County Sheriff's Lt. Daniel Douglas told the Star Tribune. Her 9-year-old sister, Taraji White, remained in critical condition at HCMC on Wednesday evening, a hospital spokeswoman said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Mr. Hipolito, of Long Beach, CA., driving a van with North Carolina plates, is living out of his van in Minnesota. I wonder if he’s an illegal ?
Shame the girls had to suffer.
The van occupied by the children is part of a fleet owned by Universal Transit Services, based in Champlin. Company owner Emiru Hika said McKenzie was a driver for him until July 25 and was not supposed to be using the vehicle.
That guy looks pretty good for 70.
Good hair !?. You would think he’d know better than putting a hot stove inside the vehicle, apparently not.
Walmart’s pretty famous for its lax policy on letting people camp out in their parking lots. The activists put the ringer on them awhile back so they’ve been allowing this ever since.
I wonder if anybody will have a long enough attention span to remember the connection.
Saturday and Sunday at the Walmart near me is a parking lot for people traveling. Some seem ok and some not. I carry everywhere, so I just make sure I watch what comes my way. Seems old used up trailers are the new homeless tents. Nice thing about harsh winters is it drives the squirrels out.
Nah
I see RV’s at the local WalMart, it increases in summer months, as Virginia Beach is a big vacation spot. A concert venue is 2 miles down the road, so that attracts even more campers. The other day there were ten tractor trailers parked in the lot, (not making deliveries), how long before the hookers show up ?
The mother left a 6 year old and a 9 year old alone in their van for an HOUR while she ran into Wal-Mart for a *few minutes* to grab something.
The guy should be charged with murder and the mother for reckless endangerment and child abuse.
Those poor babies.......
At what age is it okay to leave a kid in a car? Turns out it's a gray area...
FRIDLEY, Minn. — We've all heard the dangers of leaving kids in hot cars, but the danger two little girls found themselves in Tuesday morning in the Fridley Walmart parking lot is something no parent could have seen coming.
"They both had burns over their bodies and suffered smoke inhalation," Fridley police Lt. Jim Mork says.
Police say the girls, ages six and nine, were left in the car by their mother, who went into Walmart to do some shopping.
“She was inside somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour,” Mork says.
While she was inside, police say the van parked next to the girls caught fire.
Within minutes those flames spread to their vehicle where the girls were both seated inside.
When we shared the story online the comments came pouring in, nearly a thousand of them on Facebook, from parents who both condemned and condoned this mother’s actions of leaving the two girls in the car.
It got us wondering ourselves, what is the rule?
Well, there isn’t one, at least not here in Minnesota.
According to KidsAndCars.org, a children’s safety group, 19 states have specific laws against leaving kids in cars, Minnesota isn’t one of them.
Instead of having a specific law, Minnesota law relies on the broader definition of “child neglect and endangerment.”
Under this broad law, charges can be filed against a parent or guardian based on what’s “appropriate to the child’s age” but the law doesn’t specifically say what that age is.
Attorneys say the law is vague so that it can take into account a variety of factors, such as the age of child, the maturity level of the child, how long they’ve been left in the car, etc. etc.
There are tons of factors, bottom line, every case is different.
While Minnesota doesn't put an age on the issue, other states do.
In California, it's six, any child younger than that can't be left in a car alone
. In Florida, it's the same, but their law says it's only illegal if the parent is gone longer than 15 minutes.
In Texas, it's illegal to leave a child under seven, Maryland its eight, in Connecticut it's twelve.
However, in some states say it's okay for a parent to leave their child in the car if an older sibling is in the car with them.
Some states say they have to be 11, others say 12, 13 or even 14 in Texas.
So, it makes sense parents would disagree on the topic, with each state having its own way of dealing with it.
What nine year old kid doesn’t know how to open a car door?
Heavy sleeper? It was 7:15 in the morning and the kids were asleep? Momma keep them out all night ? What 70 year old puts a hot stove inside a van packed full of his worldly possessions? So many questions. Why is it black families have several different last names ? Family genealogy must be damn near impossible.
Took me a while to figure out, that is foam in the picture.
Not snow.
Had me confused there for a bit. :)
Sad what happened.
Gee, I wonder if he is here legally? (I’m sensing a theme this morning)
Murder is killing someone on purpose.
Charge him with murder and he walks away with zero punishment.
Maybe Involuntary Manslaughter.
A car with child proof locks locked from the driver seat
Maybe being on fire and choking on smoke with her little sister screaming beside her kept her from getting the door unlocked
Blame the victim on steroids
Minnesota statute regarding manslaughter.
609.205 MANSLAUGHTER IN THE SECOND DEGREE
A person who causes the death of another by any of the following means is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or both:
(1) by the person's culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another; or
(2) by shooting another with a firearm or other dangerous weapon as a result of negligently believing the other to be a deer or other animal; or
(3) by setting a spring gun, pit fall, deadfall, snare, or other like dangerous weapon or device; or
(4) by negligently or intentionally permitting any animal, known by the person to have vicious propensities or to have caused great or substantial bodily harm in the past, to run uncontrolled off the owner's premises, or negligently failing to keep it properly confined; or
(5) by committing or attempting to commit a violation of section 609.378 (neglect or endangerment of a child), and murder in the first, second, or third degree is not committed thereby.
If proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it shall be an affirmative defense to criminal liability under clause (4) that the victim provoked the animal to cause the victim's death.
” The other day there were ten tractor trailers parked in the lot, (not making deliveries), how long before the hookers show up ?”
Back in 2017, in San Antonio Texas, they found a tractor trailer in a Walmart parking lot. In it were illegal aliens, with nine already dead from the heat.
If mama drugged the kids so they’d stay put...
Hope a tox screen is run on the two children.
“Murder is killing someone on purpose.”
Break out a lawbook!
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