Posted on 08/04/2005 6:41:41 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
A mother's horror turned to a grave reality just before 6 p.m. Wednesday when she stopped to pick up her 1-year-old son from Madison's Place Day Care, located in the 5200 block of 13th Street.
According to police, day care employees told the mother they had not seen Joseph Duemer - born July 15, 2004 - all day, and he had not been checked into the facility.
The mother returned to her vehicle to find Joseph dead in the back seat, said Lubbock police spokesman Lt. Roy Bassett.
"He was in the back seat and had been back there all day," Bassett said.
Although Joseph was transported for treatment, Bassett said it was too late to save him.
According to Lubbock police Sgt. Leland Hufstedler, unconfirmed reports indicate the mother left her home about 8 a.m. Wednesday to drop off the child at Madison's Place.
"Right now, it doesn't look like it was anything intentional," said Hufstedler.
The high temperature in Lubbock was 93 Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The temperature dipped to 90 at about 6 p.m.
The mother was being questioned Wednesday night by police about the incident, Bassett said.
"The mother was taken to the police station to possibly give a statement and possibly speak to detectives if she chooses to," said Bassett, who indicated the father arrived at the day care shortly after the baby's death was reported to 911 from the facility.
At press time, a Lubbock police investigator said the mother had yet to give a statement to police and did have an attorney present at the station.
Exiting the police station at about 9:30 p.m., the mother was consoled by her husband along with a Lubbock attorney and a small group of people.
Leaving in a white T-shirt, black jogging shorts and tennis shoes, the mother dabbed at eyes swollen with tears before getting into a vehicle and leaving the station.
Hufstedler said the investigation continues as they plan to determine whether the case should head to Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney Bill Sowder for presentation to a grand jury.
Bassett said there will be an autopsy conducted to determine the cause of death.
how convenient!
"...Working woman problem..."
No, it's a "I'm a friggin' dumbass" problem...
This sure seems to happen frequently.
Sorry, it doesn't fly.
This was done on purpose. Convenient way to solve a "problem". Think of it as a 6th trimester abortion. All the talk of tired parents and back seat bullcrap is just that. Period. No excuses.
And IF by some bizarre stretch of the imagination this woman did do it "accidentally", then she needs to be removed from society to protect the rest of us from more of her "accidents". There is no telling what damage she could do in a car.
I don't think anyone knows that for sure. Could have been legitimate. People are not perfect, and tragic mistakes and misjudgments are made daily. You can bet, during her interviews, and there will be many, the investigators will get a good feel for the credibility and evaluate the story of the Mother.
They will be talking will everyone that knows her, to see if she has made any suspect or incriminating statements in the past, and a whole lot more. They will be climbing inside her head and her background.
This so-called mother should be sterilized.
Not only are they in the back seat, but young children are reversed - facing the seat.
Every single time this happens it is with parents who throw their kids into day care. Always Day care, day care, day care. Every time. Why do they bother having children at all when it's obvious they don't have time for them?
Her "absentmindedness" is manslaughter. She should not be permitted to have another child.
Pierre baby's death in car 15th in U.S.
Group: Parents rarely charged
DENISE D. TUCKER
dtucker@argusleader.com
July 23, 2005
A 13-month-old Pierre boy who died last week after apparently being left in a hot vehicle was the 15th such death nationwide this year, according to an advocacy group that tracks the incidents.
And four more children have died since July 15, when Jesse James Templeton was discovered in a car outside a rural Stanley County office.
The 19 children ranged in age from 3 months to 9 years old.
"It happens more often than you think," said Janette Fennell, founder and president of the Kids and Cars. "The common thread through these incidents is a change in routine."
For example, parents who normally don't take a child to school or day care might forget they have the child that day and go about their routine. The parent might not realize the child was left behind until returning to the vehicle.
In most cases, parents aren't charged, and if they are, they're rarely convicted, Fennell said from her office in Kansas City, Kan.
Jesse, the son of Leejay and Brooke Templeton, was left in a car for an extended time on a day when the temperature reached 92 degrees, authorities said.
He was pronounced dead at a Pierre hospital.
The Stanley County Sheriff's Office, the Division of Criminal Investigation and the attorney general's office referred questions about the case to Stanley County State's Attorney Tom Maher Jr., who was out of town.
Charges have not been filed.
Barb Buhler, information officer for the South Dakota Department of Health, said the state reported no deaths of children in unattended vehicles from 1994 to 2004.
Battalion Chief Pat Warren said Sioux Falls Fire Rescue doesn't see many cases of children left in cars.
"We've been called out because a child gets locked in a car," he said. "But not on a medical emergency."
Saving children
Nationally, 35 children died of hyperthermia in 2004 after being left in vehicles, according to Kids and Cars. A total of 230 died from 1998 to 2004.
Hyperthermia is the name given for a variety of heat-related illnesses. The two most common forms are heat exhaustion and heatstroke, according the National Institute for Aging.
Heatstroke occurs when the body's core temperature reaches 104 degrees. A core temperature of 107 is considered lethal.
Fennell said parents can take steps so they won't leave their children in a hot car.
She suggests keeping a large teddy bear in the child's car seat when it is not occupied and moving the toy to the front passenger seat when the child is in the car.
"It's a visual reminder that anytime the teddy bear is up front, you know the child is in the back seat in a child safety seat," she said.
Fennell also suggests getting child care providers involved.
"Make arrangements with your child's day care center or baby sitter that you will always call them if your child will not be there on a particular day as scheduled," she advised. "Ask them to phone you if your child doesn't show up when expected.
"Many children's lives could have been saved with the telephone call from a concerned provider."
Fennell said her group is working with NASA on a system to alert parents if a child is left in a booster seat. A sensor switch would be activated once a child is placed in a booster seat. An alarm on the driver's key ring would sound if the driver was a few feet from the vehicle and the child was still in the seat.
The alarm wouldn't shut off until the child is removed.
Reach reporter Denise D. Tucker at 331-2335.
"I drove off once with my groceries still sitting in the Kroger parking lot. Fortunately I never forgot my children."
I left the store without the groceries TWICE! (son 3yr, twins less than 1 - I remembered them! - sleep depravation was a big part of it!)
A couple of times I would look in the back seat of the car and go - where are the kids? Then remember that my wife had them with her. (whew!) Especially when changing the routine a bit, or dropping them off somewhere and then mom picking them up, etc.
It says the Dad showed up at the daycare later. I wonder if he was the usual person to take the child - and Mom "spaced out". Very tragic for the child no matter what was going on.
You're right on the mark with this one.
btt
Cyborg, this story in this thread happened where I live. I was so upset thinking about that precious baby and what it went through when I heard this story on local news last night that I was almost physically ill and couldn't even bring myself to post the story. I just can't get that baby out of my head.
How can people keep doing this? Going to pick up their children from day care only to realize the kids were never dropped off? Was another parent supposed to have taken the children to the center?
This is crazy!
One can only imagine what the child suffered; however, the childs suffering is over and the mother's pain will last a lifetime. It is just sad all the way 'round.
Thank you for your humble observation. I, too, have been distracted and could have had the worst occur, but, from my faith tradition, for the grace of God. As my mother lost a young child under awful circumstances, I know, too, God's grace was with her as she was tested. And she was not found wanting. V's wife.
She's already in prison, why don't we pray for her? Shalom
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