Police Say Two Children Died When Mother Left Them in Hot Car for Three Hours

The Associated Press ^ | Published: Jun 29, 2002

[TheOtherOne]

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) - Two young children died while they were left alone in a hot car for more than three hours by their mother, who was having her hair done, police said Saturday.

The mother was being held on an open charge of murder pending a review by prosecutors, the Southfield Police Department said. Police did not release the 25-year-old Detroit resident's name.

"This is a hideous crime. ... There is no excuse to lose young innocent lives like this," said Police Chief Joseph E. Thomas.

The weather was sunny at the time the children were left Friday, with highs in the 80s. "It can get well over 100 degrees" inside a car, National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Dixon said.

Police said they were called to Providence Hospital in the Detroit suburb late Friday after the woman brought in the 10-month-old girl and 3-year-old boy.

She initially told investigators she had been abducted and raped, and then returned to her car and found her children sleeping, police said.

She later changed her story, telling police that she stopped to have her hair done about 4:20 p.m., and that the children were dead when she returned more than three hours later, police said.

She said she drove for about three hours before going to the hospital, officers said.

Autopsies were scheduled to determine the official cause of death, but Detective John Harris said heat was the likely cause.

AP-ES-06-29-02 1653EDT

[Catspaw]

I'm not so sure about that. Law enforcement and prosecutors in Wisconsin will not release the name of anyone until that person has been officially charged; if they've been arrested, they will not release the name of the person until that person's initial appearance.

[Timesink]

I'm not so sure about that. Law enforcement and prosecutors in Wisconsin will not release the name of anyone until that person has been officially charged; if they've been arrested, they will not release the name of the person until that person's initial appearance.

Oh, I didn't know that. Well, if the rules are the same in Michigan, then I of course retract the allegation. Anyone know if they are the same?

[cubreporter]

Leaving a 10 mo old baby alone in a car with a four year old for ANY reason is unacceptable. I remember when mothers put their children before themselves. My mother would have said my hair appt has to wait cause I have no one to take care of my children. What is more important...getting your hair done or the safety of your children? Give me a break. When do ther irresponsible pay for the crimes against children anyway? Excuses, excuses, excuses all the time as the deaths of children just get pushed aside. It's absolutely heartbreaking these children lost their lives because of a mother who thought more evidently of her own selfish desires than her children. God forgive her too.

[Sally II]

My God, I don't know a single person who would even consider leaving their 10 month old unattended for two minutes! What was she thinking? That the three year old could take care of things? That is just nuts!

[hoosierham]

Let's see, she knowingly and deliberately placed two defenseless children in a hot oven for three hours, sounds like murder in the second degree at least. Of course if she had just killed these babies BEFORE they were born, there would be no problem !!!

Do you abortion rights types begin to see where the demeaning of infanticide has lead ?

[Paleo Conservative]

Some people are simply too stupid to be trusted to raise children.

That's why the mother deserves a

Darwin Award!

[itzmygun]

Woman drowns kids in bathtub, Parents use cattleprod on kids, Man AND Woman sexually abuse 12-year-old daughter...

We need to change the 8th amendment:

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted (except in cases of physical crimes against children - then, go all out and by all means feel free to use your imagination).

[Guennie]

I am fully ready to believe some mothers are without conscience!!

Even a dab of common sense would tell a woman you don't leave a 10 month old, OR a 3 yr. old in a car for 3 hours.

Either she was on something.....didn't care....or was on something.

Any way you look at it, it's MURDER!

Good mercy, when my youngest was about 6 months old, I had just left the pediatrician's office, and put him in his car seat.

Without thinking, I locked the car door.....and then realized the keys were in the car, and all the doors were locked.
(I can't even remember HOW I managed that)

I went tearing into the doctor's office, hysterical!!....and begging for help.

My dear doctor personally came out, and watched over my son, until the locksmith could arrive.

Meanwhile, I'm begging the doctor to just smash the window, so my son won't suffocate.

...But the doctor said my son was doing fine.....and he was.

This only took a matter of minutes, but it seemed an eternity!!

[Bandolier]

When I was a kid, my Mom would take my brother and I to the beauty shop when she got her hair done. They had toys to play with, and the ladies there all fawned over the kids and gave them candy, etc.

It's a different world now; I'm not sure I like it so much.

[Sally II]

Let's see, she knowingly and deliberately placed two defenseless children in a hot oven for three hours, sounds like murder in the second degree at least.,/i>

I agree. Another disturbing fact is that she tried to cover it up, that she drove around with her dead children in the car for several hours before going to the hospital. It sounds like she was more worried about getting in trouble than she was about the death of her children. Either that or she wanted to make sure the job was done before reporting their deaths. I'm willing to bet with this behavior that there was more than one deadly incident of negelct here. I don't see any indication in the entire description of the crime that this woman ever thought of her children before herself. I'll be disappointed if she doesn't get an added sentence -1) for lying and saying she was kidnapped 2) for not rushing to the hospital immediately.

[Squantos]

Well your just full of good news today..... what are you reading the Detroit Free Press ? Doo Wayne kill's his kids on that other thread and this "mother" cook's her's...........

Stay Safe !

[LWalk18]

Of course, because as we know, white women never kill their children- what race was Susan Smith again?

[LWalk18]

The lie about the abduction and rape (which I am sure was transparent to the police) should definately be factored in. Women like this, who can just kill their children (I believe this was on purpose) to me are among the cruelest on earth.

[Timesink]

Of course, because as we know, white women never kill their children- what race was Susan Smith again?

We're talking about media and police intentionally granting special rights to blacks, not alleging that black women are somehow predisposed to kill their children.

[trussell]

This is totally absurd. How could a mother leave her children alone in a hot car for three hours, and not have the God given sense to at least check on them.

I will not leave my babies alone in a car even for 1 minute.

[LWalk18]

I was addressing Superdestroyer's post...I understand your point, but in the other child killing posted on the board, the name of the suspect was released (I assume black, based on the name), so I think that its is because she has not been charged yet, rather than a racial issue.

[LWalk18]

The media ignores most missing cases...Susan Smith was memorable because it started as a alleged carjacking and kidnapping- said to have been done by black men, which kind of disproves your theory. Only later did we learn that she had killed her own children. As for missing children, most cases regardless of race only appear in the media for a few days- Elizabeth Smart is an exception, and the media attention has started to taper off in that case as well.

[cubreporter]

Me neither. The one person a child should be able to trust wholeheartedly is the very one betraying that holy trust.