Posted on 07/31/2014 7:45:28 AM PDT by Cecily
A Kansas foster father who mistakenly left a 10-month-old baby girl to die in his hot car has been charged with first-degree murder. Seth Jackson's lawyer said that the felony charge was far too strict for his client, who only remembered the baby was inside the car two hours later when something on TV jogged his memory.
'Rather high for a mistake,' attorney John Stang told NBC of the murder charge, which carries a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years in prison.
'I'm not trying to say it's not a horrible loss. The death of a child is an awful thing. But this person is looking at 15 more years than someone who was driving drunk and ran into a car and killed someone.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
My mom did the same darn thing. Annoyed the hell out of me. Especially after the whole family took to wearing seat belts all the time (funny, it was about the same time I got my driver's license).
Oh don’t worry about it. I haven’t read an entire article since excerpts started being required. Haha. At least most of the time. Don’t need that pop up junk.
Like I said I was just guessing. Murder 1 does seem a bit extreme, even to me.
He should spend more time in jail than a drunk driver though.
The pop-ups have become horrible over the years. Almost impossible to read anything. And they really screw up my computer.
Probably down at the "Book Store", researching the glory hole.
As I parent, I know life gets hectic, but priority one of being a parent is caring for your child. It's one thing if you (the general you, not specifically you) are at a store, you turn your back for one second and your kid runs off and you don't know where he is.
To forget a child is in your car on a hot day for several hours is at minimum is negligence and abuse. I am sorry for the pain these parents feel when their children die because they accidentally left their kids in hot cars for hours...but there is no excuse.
But you cannot blame the government for this. Things happens, and sure it can slip your mind for a minute or two, but any longer than that, as a parent, you failed.
I'm not saying put these people away for life, but damn, if a person's child dies because he or she didn't remember that the child was baking away in a hot car for several hours...that's criminal and not just an oopsie. This can't be blamed on government regulations of where a child should be seated in the car. Cars are not huge spaces with multiple quarters to check. If your child is with you and you forget them to the point that he or she dies, there is no excuse.
Excellent post!
Apparently it’s the government’s fault, according to some. Parents can’t be bothered to remember where their kids are if they’re not seated right next to them.
Yep, the baby could sleep with its head in mama’s lap and the two year old could stand up in the front seat while drinking from a glass pop bottle. While mama smoked a cigarette. Lol
Oh, well, I agree that parents have got to remember to take their kids out of the backseat. And, of course, it must be the first priority in getting out of a car. I don’t have a problem with leaving a purse or phone in the backseat - whatever it takes not to make a mistake. That, too, is part of being a good parent. I, personally, have a terrible memory and lose my phone, credit cards and car keys on a regular basis. I still pin my gloves to my winter coat. I’m just the type of idiot who would leave a kid in the back seat - not for two hours but, yes, for 15 minutes.
My main point, of course, is that the government creates terrible laws to correct other bad laws. I think we can at least agree on that!
Maybe I’m a homophobe but this story has my back up. Two ditzy queens with drug problems and serious man boobs were able to adopt 3 children and managed to already kill one of them. I hope they and the corrupt social workers all end up in jail.
Thank you for the compliment, btw. I don’t often get them here.
My father turned the air blue with his cigarette smoke - Lucky Strikes. My lungs are perfectly clear - 2nd hand smoke - another hoax perpetrated on the American people.
How far a leap is it, when parents leave (left) one kid at church or at the gas station?
My mom always kept track of us but the neighbors would take 2 cars to church and often we’d find one kid in the parking lot looking for a ride home. Normal 1970’s.
But when I was growing up, most moms stayed home and raised the kids.
Locally, a father of 7 was charged and IIRC, convicted, of leaving their youngest in the car after the family of 9 returned from Church on a Sunday morning, and someone forgot to take the baby in. In that case, I did believe the father/family.
Now that I think about it, I got left behind occasionally at a store! Sometimes my mother forgot to pick me up at school - I have a clear memory of standing all alone in the schoolyard, lol. Too stupid to walk home.
I also remember my mother telling me that she dropped my brother on his head (accidentally) when he was a tiny tot. She kept him out of the limelight for awhile so that no one could accuse her of child abuse. She felt guilty about it 30 years later.
Not allowed to speak evil of the protected classes. Have to talk instead about new federal rules to make life harder for everybody else. Even FReepers do it; no wonder everybody else does.
I did predict that freepers would come out in support of laws that forced parents to do things that were not particularly sensible and/or proven wrongheaded.
Oh now I like you even more, because I can so relate! I am one of the flakiest people I know (nice & well-meaning, but still a flake). I cannot count the times I've lost my cellphone or keys and I've must have lost at least $100 in singles that dropped out of pockets. I have a desk organizer, a calendar in every room and a smart phone to remind me of appointments because my brain is often in two places at once.
Regardless, there has been one constant for me in past 17 years, and it is awareness of my daughter. I was a very young mom (pregnant at 19) and that forces you to grow up fast! Not to say there hasn't been an occasion or two in public where I turned and said where the heck is she? (Usually behind me six feet away!)
We all make mistakes and get forgetful. But these stories of leaving children to bake in hot cars are confounding. It's child abuse.
And no, you are not a "homophobe" for being extremely reasonable in believing that two queers cannot provide the best environment for children. We "normal" folks all have our quirks. When evil social workers place children with people who are far beyond "normal," one way or another that will lead to trouble for these poor children.
RIP little one.
Actually, I am a bit of a homophobe, lol. And the photos of these two sloppy, Perez Hilton lookalikes just frosts me! Can you imagine handing over 3 children to these two?
What next? Giving kiddies to The Three Stooges? Complete with hammer and eye-poking instructions.
I suppose because of my hopeless memory I’m convinced I’d be just the one to leave a kid in the back seat. I’ve never done it with a dog but dogs jump up and let you know what’s up, unlike, of course, a sleeping infant.
Ever take a subway, train, bus way past your station because you were thinking of something else or reading a good book? I even drive past my exit if a nice song is on the radio ending up miles away from my home. Ooh, maybe I have early onset dementia...
Don't we hear all the time about how big families are bad because you can not possibly give more then two children all the attention they need? Yet these people get FIVE small ones?
I thought they had 3 not 5. Well, well. I’m going to assume all the kiddies will be finding new homes pronto. Or did the hubbie/wife get control of them? I also hope the two Perez Hilton lookalikes hid all the drug paraphernalia and kiddie porn before the cops came a-calling.
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