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Left In Extreme Heat of Car, Baby Dies (Idiot Parents Alert)
news-press ^ | 7-29-02 | my favorite headache

Posted on 07/29/2002 2:56:17 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache

Left in extreme heat of car, baby dies

By SHARON TURCO, sturco@news-press.com

A 1-year-old Lehigh Acres boy died after his parents left him in their car minivan for more than four hours Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Daniel McCray?s second birthday would have been next month.

Dr. Doug Kelley, of the District 21 Medical Examiner?s Office was scheduled to perform an autopsy today.

How Daniel died may be determined then, said Lt. Barry Futch, of the Lee County Sheriff?s Office.

David and Jo Ann McCray, of 4111 Seventh St. W., in Lehigh Acres,Florida refused to comment Monday.

?I know they would never have done this on purpose,? said Reiko Ginac, Daniel?s maternal grandmother.

Futch said the McCrays returned from church with their five children at about 1 p.m. Sunday, letting Daniel out of his car seat but leaving him in the van.

The McCrays noticed Daniel was missing at about 6 p.m., as the McCrays were getting ready to return to church, Futch said.

They found him laying under the minivan?s second seat. They called 911, but Daniel was already dead, Futch said.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Free Republic; Front Page News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: baby; dead; florida; parents; whereelse
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To: All
Either these auto incidents are pre-meditated murder, criminal negligence, or these idiots are so retarded that they cannot be entrusted with children without themselves being supervised. No way anyone should be let off without either the DP or a long term in prison. This is not excusable behavior. These creeps must be punished for this.....
21 posted on 07/29/2002 4:46:25 PM PDT by Malcolm
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To: Dog Gone
With my background in the media...I would love to film a PSA just like that. Great idea.
22 posted on 07/29/2002 5:03:36 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
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To: thegreatbeast
I have always felt horribly about this but isn't it time that we all acknowledge that we all know what can happen when a child is left unattended in an automobile? There is no defense anymore.


Maybe not everyone knows what happens when they leave a baby unattended in a car on a sweltering hot day in the middle of summer. I'm all for a warning label on cars.
23 posted on 07/29/2002 5:08:40 PM PDT by It's me
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To: It's me
I forgot the "sarcasm off"
24 posted on 07/29/2002 5:11:04 PM PDT by It's me
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To: It's me
I'm all for a warning label on cars.

Just wait till somebody sues Ford/GM/Daimler

25 posted on 07/29/2002 5:11:48 PM PDT by Alouette
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

To: Dog Gone
Excellent idea! Anything to get the attention of these idiots.....when I see it on tv, I'll remember I heard it here first.
27 posted on 07/29/2002 5:20:17 PM PDT by SandyEgo
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To: My Favorite Headache
I would like to know how often this happened 10,20,or 30 years ago.

28 posted on 07/29/2002 5:22:56 PM PDT by thepitts
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To: SoftballMominVA
There was a situation in Utah a few years back like this one you have here. The man had his little boy in his truck. The little guy was in his seat, but had somehow gotten out of it, and the truck. The dad had gone over a nearby hill or something, looking for places he could deer-hunt in. Anyway, he lost track of time, talking to some other guys out there. The little boy wandered around, trying to follow and find his dad. He got lost, and a storm came in. He had no shoes on, and was in his pj's. The dad got back to the truck, found the boy gone, went out in a panic looking for him.

Well, as the story goes, they found him dead. It was a stupid and negligent thing for the guy to do, but it wasn't deliberate. He was full of guilt and remorse. After he was sentenced, he killed himself! He couldn't live with what he did. The guilt and sorrow of what he did or didn't do, to cause the death of the little boy. He loved his little boy dearly, and never harm him deliberately.
29 posted on 07/29/2002 5:41:14 PM PDT by dsutah
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To: dsutah
I need to fix a sentence in the last paragraph. To clarify that: The guilt and sorrow he experienced because of what he did, or didn't do to cause the death, punished him in ways much worse than prison would have!
30 posted on 07/29/2002 5:48:05 PM PDT by dsutah
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To: My Favorite Headache
That's exactly what we just said. How in the hell (pardon my language Mr. Robinson) I just couldn't help it. But I repeat...how in thee hell do you forget a one year old and only discover him missing four hours later???????????????

Don't they check to see if their little one needs a drink of water or if he is hungry perhaps for lunch or a little snack or needs a diaper changed???? How do you forget a one year old for four hours? You DON'T!

We are sick of it too! Enough is enough. Just sit in your car for a minute in the heat and you begin to feel the overwhelming feeling that you are gonna suffocate. Now, imagine the poor child under the seat. Only one year old and no doubt crying for his mommy or daddy the ones who should be protecting him.

Dear God this is too heartbreaking and our hearts are mournful for this baby. We hope and pray the baby has his little angel wings now and is finally at peace, feeling nice and cool and receiving the love from all those in Heaven. God bless this child...our hearts are sad...so very sad.
31 posted on 07/29/2002 9:41:26 PM PDT by cubreporter
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To: cubreporter
This is child story #3 of the night. Literally ill.
32 posted on 07/29/2002 11:13:13 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
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To: Paul Atreides
Update:

Autopsy: Toddler died of heatstroke Charges still possible in death of Lehigh boy By SHARON TURCO, sturco@news-press.com A Lehigh Acres toddler died of heatstroke after being trapped in a minivan under the scorching afternoon sun for more than five hours, according to an autopsy.

Daniel McCray, who died Sunday, would have turned 2 Aug. 10. TRAGIC LOSS: Reiko Ginac, grandmother of Daniel McCray, 23 months, reacts in her Fort Myers home to news of how Daniel died Sunday of heatstroke. (GARY R. ULIK/news-press.com) Click on image to enlarge.

District 21 Medical Examiner Dr. Doug Kelley ruled the death accidental during an autopsy Monday.

Jo Ann and David McCray thought another child brought Daniel inside after church and put him down for a nap, according to the family’s attorney, Michael Hornung.

Instead, Daniel was left behind in the car.

“Daniel was trapped in there,” said Lee Lt. Barry Futch. “He couldn’t get the door open; he was too young.”

The McCrays found him lying under a seat, his eyes closed, his arms out with his hands clenched near his head, according to a Lee County sheriff’s report. The McCrays called for medical help, but he was already dead.

“I know they would never have done this on purpose,” said Reiko Ginac, Daniel’s maternal grandmother.911 transcript Read text of mother’s frantic call.

“This was a terrible tragedy,” Hornung said.

The Florida Department of Children & Families is investigating the accident along side the sheriff’s office, said Lee Cpl. Ryan Bell.

The department spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Monday night.

A temperature sensor at Page Field showed area afternoon temperatures reached 94 degrees Sunday, said Richard Rude, a forecaster for the National Weather Service.

That’s hot — but it’s worse inside a car.

In less than 10 minutes under those conditions the inside of a vehicle can reach 100 degrees. In a half hour the temperature can climb another 20 degrees, according to statistics from the National SAFE KIDS campaign.

It is not known how long Daniel lived, Kelley said.

Although the death was not intentional, the McCrays can still be charged for their son’s death, Futch said.

“Charges are possible,” Futch said. “No matter what, there was still some responsibility here.”

The McCrays and their five children returned to their 4111 Seventh St. W. house from Emmanuel Baptist Church at 1 p.m. Sunday, parking in the driveway and going straight inside, according to a report.

Daniel was sitting in a child seat in the rear of the minivan when he was left behind, Futch said.

It is not known if the toddler attempted to get out on his own.

“He may have gotten worn out from trying to get out, I don’t know,” Futch said.

A sheriff’s report says that during the hours Daniel was missing, the family went about their daily routine.

Hornung elaborated saying the family was returning from church, the first time since Jo Ann McCray suffered a late term miscarriage two weeks earlier.

“She was extremely upset regarding that,” Hornung said. “After church she was feeling extremely depressed.”

The couple and their four other children laid down together for a nap.

“The older children had notified them that everyone was out of the minivan,” Hornung said. “It was a horrible mistake.”

It wasn’t until 6 p.m., as the McCrays were getting ready to return to church, they noticed Daniel was missing, Futch said.

They found him in the car, immediately calling 911 for help.

In a recording of the 911 call, Jo Ann McCray, 37, explains what happened:

• 911 operator: Do you have him right now?

• Jo Ann McCray: He’s dead, he’s very dead. We got him in the house, but he died.

• 911 operator: How long was he in the van?

• Jo Ann McCray: About five hours. We all thought somebody else brought him in. He was sleeping when we got home. We all thought somebody else brought him in and laid him down.

• 911 operator: Ma’am, was the van running?

• Jo Ann McCray: No it was not.

Hornung said the Florida Department of Children & Families has made the situation worse, threatening to take away the couple’s other four children, ages 5 to 14.

“They’ve even threatened to get warrants to take custody of the children,” Hornung said.

Bell said he doesn’t think the children are in danger.

“I have no concern about the children being harmed,” Bell said, adding that the department is doing its own investigation.

“They are better trained to judge the situation,” Bell said.

The family has had no prior contact with the department, Hornung said.

“The last thing this family needs is to have their other children taken away,” Hornung said. “If the sheriff’s office is satisfied the children are not in harm’s way, children and family services should back off.”

33 posted on 07/29/2002 11:18:51 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
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To: My Favorite Headache

TRAGIC LOSS: Reiko Ginac, grandmother of Daniel McCray, 23 months, reacts in her Fort Myers home to news of how Daniel died Sunday of heatstroke. (GARY R. ULIK/news-press.com)

34 posted on 07/29/2002 11:20:31 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
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To: My Favorite Headache
Now everyone wants to call this an accident after a 24 hour cooling off of the heads. I say bullshit. Do not put the responsibility of a teenager now on the line. This is exactly what they did. They put it on the oldest kid...yeah we thought one of the older kids put the baby to bed for a nap. Sorry. The parents should have checked on their own kid over 6 hours. That is a very very long nap for a child of that age.

Let the parents rot.

35 posted on 07/29/2002 11:25:53 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
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To: All
Nearly all vehicles now seem to have electric windows up and down. Wouldn't it be quite inexpensive to have a chip that would detect movement in a vehicle once it is turned off, and roll the windows down (open) automatically?

What is it with all these people passing out for naps?

Shouldn't they have looked to make sure the vehicle was empty of people, before they ever rolled the windows up in the first place?

I don't think kids died left in cars back in the 50's! Why is that? Because the windows were left open all the time? No...

36 posted on 07/29/2002 11:52:13 PM PDT by crystalk
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To: crystalk
Bump
37 posted on 07/30/2002 1:38:55 AM PDT by My Favorite Headache
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To: crystalk
Nearly all vehicles now seem to have electric windows up and down. Wouldn't it be quite inexpensive to have a chip that would detect movement in a vehicle once it is turned off, and roll the windows down (open) automatically?

And while we're at it we can form some new governmental regulatory commission to make sure that this doesn't happen again. And the agency can ensure that all of us with children under 5 retrofit our vehicles with this new technology. I'm being sarcastic and realize that you didn't propose a big government solution, but the problem is that every time you try to make something idiot-proof, someone comes along and makes a better idiot.

In fairness, I could see something like this happening, given the situation as described. The incidents of this type that make my blood boil involve cases such as the one where the "mother" left her child in the van while she played video poker or, the case cited earlier where the sailor locked her child in the car while on duty and "checked on him periodically". It's a crying shame that no matter how dumb some people may be, they always seem to figure out how to breed......

38 posted on 07/30/2002 8:46:38 AM PDT by awelliott
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To: My Favorite Headache
Two or three weeks ago, a female left her infant in the car all day and said she forgot that she did not drop him off at the babysitter due to some commotion when she got to work.

In another tragic incident (if you want to call it that) about a year or so ago, a different female claimed the same exact thing. How can you forget that you did not drop your child off at the babysitter or daycare, when the child is still there in the car with you. And what possibly can consume your thoughts that your child does not come to mind several times during the day.

39 posted on 07/30/2002 9:39:57 AM PDT by TexKat
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To: ThreeYearLurker
>>Unfortunately, I have been reading at least two stories a week about this happening all throughout the country all summer long. Some people are too irresponsible to be a parent.<<

Don't rule out calculated murder.

40 posted on 07/30/2002 9:48:07 AM PDT by SerpentDove
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