2 babies died in hot cars; only 1 arrest

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Judi Villa

The Arizona Republic

Ryan Gallagher and Amberlee Elizabeth Brown both died this year when a parent forgot them inside a hot car.

Ryan's mother was arrested. Amberlee's father was not.

While the cases amount to the same tragic action, they highlight the complexities police and prosecutors face in deciding what is just a horrible accident and what crosses the line to criminal negligence.

In Arizona, there is no law that makes it a crime to leave a child unattended in a vehicle. Police decide whether to arrest on a case-by-case basis.

Ryan's mother, Ashly Duchene, 22, was arrested Tuesday after she forgot him in the car while she worked a seven-hour waitressing shift.

"It's a tough decision," said Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Tranter. "Seven hours aggravates it. You're not just momentarily neglectful. You are extremely neglectful."

Inside a vehicle, the temperature can rise about 19 degrees in just 10 minutes.

Over a period of one to two hours, the temperature can spike by as much as 50 degrees. A core body temperature of 107 degrees is considered lethal.

Nationwide this year, 35 children, including two in Arizona, have died after being left unattended in hot vehicles.

Last year, 30 children died, according to the non-profit Kids and Cars. Nearly half were "forgotten" by caregivers.

An Associated Press analysis of 339 such fatal incidents in the past 10 years found that charges were filed in about half the cases.

Officials say there needs to be a circle of discretion that goes into prosecution decisions.

"Kids shouldn't die this way," said Janette Fennell, founder and president of Kids and Cars.

"But I would say leaving a child alone in a hot car unintentionally, knowing your child baked to death, how do you punish somebody more than that?"

Only 12 states have laws prohibiting leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. In two states, it is a crime only if the child is injured or died.

There is no such law in Arizona, although a Tucson lawmaker unsuccessfully proposed one this year. The law would have made it a misdemeanor to leave a child younger than 10 unattended in a vehicle.

Republican lawmaker Marian McClure said she does not plan to reintroduce the bill.

Personally, though, McClure said she believes more parents should face charges when their kids are left alone in vehicles.

"We all are on overload anymore. Every one of us. . . . Now, how you can forget a child is just beyond me," McClure said. "If you prosecute some of them, if you did make an example of some of these cases, I believe we would become more aware."

In Maricopa County, only one person is awaiting trial for the death of a child in a hot car. Giselle Wetzell was baby-sitting an 18-month-old girl in 2003 when she left the toddler in her van for more than an hour.

Throughout the country, there is a lack of consistency in who gets charged, and Arizona is no different.

Two Phoenix women, a mother of five who left her 7-month-old son alone in a van for an hour in 2004 and an aunt who forgot her 22-month-old niece in a car for five hours in 2005, pleaded guilty in the babies' deaths.

Yet a Mesa mother who forgot her 4-month-old daughter in a minivan for three hours while she went to work in 2004 was not arrested in the baby's death.

Neither was Kyle Brown, who forgot Amberlee for nearly two hours after they returned from running errands in June.

The Brown case is still under review, but Chandler police Detective Frank Mendoza said officers "didn't feel that this case warranted arrest for whatever reason."

Phoenix police saw differently with Duchene.

Court records indicate she was an overwhelmed and "mentally disturbed" mother who didn't make her son a priority. A neighbor said she often heard Duchene crying, and, in court papers, police called Duchene's behavior "a gross deviation from the care a reasonable person would observe."

The night before Ryan died, Duchene complained to his father that the boy cried all the time and said she "couldn't do it anymore." The boy's father offered to take Ryan but Duchene declined, saying she "needed to see him every day," the court records say.

Ryan had recently stayed with his maternal grandfather, and Duchene told police she was out of the habit of dropping him off before work. The day before Ryan died, Duchene told police she almost forgot him in the car.

All that played into the decision to arrest Duchene on suspicion of negligent homicide. But Tranter said the seven-hour lapse alone was enough.

"It's just unexplainable to us. How could you do that?" Tranter said. "Seven hours. That's where I think nobody can defend it."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1102babydeath02.html

[Aymerlu 3]

How the he$$ do you FORGET your child in the car? What is wrong with people? I swear, some people need to be sterilized before they reproduce or care for a child.

[Sister Fracas 5]

I'm not a parent, but it seems unconceivable that someone would leave a baby alone in a car for even one minute. I just don't understand these cases AT ALL.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

leave a kid in your car on a military base, and the window will be broken by the military police to get the kid out. and then more fun like a visit to the base commander, a fine, possibly barred from post.

oh yeah and you get to pay for your window too

[LoriLawless 0]

I wouldn't leave my animal in the car, let alone a child! Things like this make me mad!

[Kevin and 10]

[MissStacey 1]

I remember story from a few years back that I saw on an Oprah show- the show itself was about sleep deprivation.

The father went to work and forgot to drop the baby off at daycare. When the mother went to pick up the baby that afternoon and found him not there she phoned the husband- it was after that he found the baby dead in the car. The worst part of this story is that the father and one of his co workers took the car out during their lunch hour and went to a fast food restaurant. Neither of them noticed the dead baby in the back.

It is just so sad.

[Ladylethal 12]

My father forgot my brother with my uncle at a bar once, true that they were both rather drunk. He went home and mom said "Where's the kid?!!?!?" and dad went "Ops!" and went back to the bar to fetch my brother. He wasn't a baby though, he was about 6.

I've heard of these cases quite often enough, in Brazil last year a man left his son in the car after going home from dropping his wife at her job, everyday it was the mother who took the kid to school, on that particular day the father drove them dropped the wife off, and forgot to drop to kid off at daycare, went home to work in his office. Two hours later he remembered he hadn't dropped the kid off at school and ran to the garage. It was too late. The guy was devastated, he was charged and all and he said he deserved it, he was a complete wreck.

Cases where animals are left to die inside cards is even more common. Last year I had to move across the country in Brazil with my dogs and cats, but whenever we stopped to eat, we'd take them out, walk with them, then tie the dogs in a tree where we could see them, and leave the car running with the air on for the cats, and we'd eat in turns, so we could check the animals all the time. It was 3 days on the road and a lot of hassle, but we wouldn't do any differently.

[yassmine2878 1]

"But I would say leaving a child alone in a hot car unintentionally, knowing your child baked to death, how do you punish somebody more than that?"

Let them sit in a hot car for an entire work shift and see how they like it.

How the he$$ do you FORGET your child in the car? What is wrong with people? I swear, some people need to be sterilized before they reproduce or care for a child.

Exactly. 7 hours???? How do you forget about your child for 7 hours? I can understand someone forgetting they left their toddler in the living room for 5 minutes, but forgetting a child in the car for 7 hours? Disgusting.

[JODO 2]

More proof that just because one has ovaries or sperm, it does not mean one should be a parent. I do not see how people "forget" a kid in a car and a conveniently hot one at that. You wanted to be a parent,then BE ONE.

[Sinergy 3]

Ive never left my kids in the car. not only do i love them, but ppl can steal your car and your kids at the same time, and the heat thing. ive also never forgotten my kids were in the car with me. i dunno maybe its a common sence thing.

[Welshcookie 17]

omg...reading that makes me feel ill

[Jasman0717 9]

How can people, especially someone with kids, be so STUPID

[Nessa 23]

some people shouldn't be allowed to breed.