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

The Associated Press ^ | Published: Jun 29, 2002

[Bonaparte]

"It sounds like she didn't even try to pretend that she'd forgotten them."

Oh, but she did pretend -- at first. She came up with that tale about being abducted/raped. Then she changed her story when it didn't pass the smell test. I still think she's lying. Three hours getting your hair done? Must have been about a hundred french braids.

[whenigettime]

"And the race of the mother is relavant in what way?"

In the O.J. Simpson way, of course.....

[LWalk18]

In many hairdressers, particularly on a Saturday, you do a lot of waiting around for others to get their hair done before getting your own done- which could take 1-2 hours based on what was done. She would have known that, which is why I believe that this was done on purpose- some callous monster- "mother" does not fit here- who got tired of her little "brats". Her actions after the fact only confirm this in my mind.

[livius]

It's not a racial issue, it's a "these kids are a bother" issue. There was a lady in the Midwest last year (quite white, upper middle class, well employed) who left her small child in her car almost all day while she attended a meeting of her executive committee and did this and that. She was the director of a hospital, btw. When she went out at the end of the day (or at lunch - I've forgotten which) she found her child dead in the car, because she'd forgotten to drop him off at day care. She had a husband, incidentally, and he was also well employed.

[Bandolier]

Stories like this distress me. How could a parent, mother or father, sacrifice their children for a temporary convenience. The more I see this attitude, the more I fear our society is doomed.

My god, who should a child appeal to for protection, if not their mother. I think of those poor kids dying slowly in that car, suffering greatly, and the person who is supposed to be willing to die to protect them was getting her hair done. These stories really depress the sh*t out of me.

[Ole Okie]

Remember the story of Handel and Gristle (ok, Hansel and Gretel)?

What was it the wicked witch was going to do to them? Cook them, as I remember. But the witch got the tables turned on her, which seemed to be appropriate justice to me when I was a child.

I can think of no more gruesome thing than to leave a child in a car on a hot day with the windows rolled up. Murder two, at least.

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

At worst, accidental manslaughter

I hope you're wrong about that. I'm just SICK over this! Today I was out running errands with my thirteen year old son and his friend and they wanted to stay in the car while I went into a store and I told them NO WAY! It was sweltering hot out here today. And those boys were old enough to get out if they got too hot. I *still* wouldn't leave them. That anyone would do that to two young children is horrendous. Even if it wasn't hot out, she shouldn't have left two children that age!

[biblewonk]

I wonder if this stupid wench is smart enough to flunk an IQ test about now.

[X-FID]

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 agree with you but this is pre-meditated murder to me, anyone with a drivers license and a brain stem knows what was done would result in death.

Enough of the trying to figure out what this bitch was thinking as she got her hair done, SHE MURDERED HER CHILDREN!

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

I can already see NOW's response: if this male dominated society had not put so much pressure on women to look good this would never have happened this women needs therapy not prison

[Reborn]

Stories like this distress me. How could a parent, mother or father, sacrifice their children for a temporary convenience. The more I see this attitude, the more I fear our society is doomed.

My god, who should a child appeal to for protection, if not their mother. I think of those poor kids dying slowly in that car, suffering greatly, and the person who is supposed to be willing to die to protect them was getting her hair done. These stories really depress the sh*t out of me.

{tears}...Thank you. I wanted to say something, but couldn't even begin to know what to say.....I hope that woman NEVER HAS ANOTHER BABY!! Dear God in Heaven, what breaks my heart more than anything is that she wasn't even HYSTERICAL UPON FINDING THEM DEAD. You know what that tells me? THIS WAS DONE ON PURPOSE! COLD BLOODED MURDER!!! {tears}

[Lower55]

No. It was because race was left out of the story.

They left race out of the Alabama dragging story and you remember how that heated up, then turned out to be different.

[Brytani]

Why even bother with a trial? Yea yea, I know we have rights and a constitution and all that, but women (if I can use that term to describe this person) that leave their children in a car to be literally cooked alive, deserve nothing but being taken outside the courthouse and a bullet put into their heads.

[Brytani]

No, she doesn't qualify for a Darwin award - she didn't manage to kill herself before baking her children alive.

Her kids would have been better off if she'd killed herself before locking them in a car for 3 hours.

[GnuHere]

That reminds me of a couple in this region who "forgot" their infant in a car while they were inside their church preparing for a service. It was only a couple hours, but WAY too late by the time they remembered that they had a child to look after. I don't think any charges were filed. What, if anything, is going through these parents' heads?

I have no children, so maybe someone could clue me in on how one manages to forget that they exist?

[GnuHere]

P.S. Lord help us!

[lsee]

Sigh. The defense will just say she's mentally retarded and can't be executed. There is no justification for delibarately leaving a toddler and infant in a closed car alone.

There have been bonafide examples of parents, grandparents, or other caregivers making a fatal mistake because in their busy lives they became frazzled. The person gets in the car and their brain goes on "auto-pilot". If the child falls asleep and doesn't provide an audible cue to remember them, they may then be left behind in the car. These are the incidents where the person responsible becomes hysterical when they discover what they've done, because they honestly could not imagine themselves doing such a thing or making such a terrible mistake. These people often consider taking their own lives, their guilt and regret is so great.

This incident doesn't strike me as a "mistake". It strikes me as a selfish decision that resulted in the death of those little children. I'm certain we'll be reading more about this case.

[Tall_Texan]

We have a double standard in our judicial system. It's called "the Mommy defense". It gives women the right to make stupid and dangerous (even life-threatening) choices because she's "a mother" and who are we to judge that? And if they are punished at all, they are given lesser sentences with less prison time if they still have living children in their "care".

Andrea Yates' goof was to kill *all* her kids. If she had only killed three, the "Mommy Defense" would have let her out with a slap on the wrist.